Digital Directions
by Shizuku Tsukishima749
Summary: When Kari's childhood struggles come back to haunt her and her loved ones, what will be the consequences?  Takari, Taiora, Kenolei.
1. Decisions, Decisions

**Digital Directions**

"Wait up, Kari!" A young boy of about eight years of age ran down the beach towards another child, a young girl of eight as well, who turned around and smiled at him. He breathed heavily as he leaned on his knees, and the girl smiled patiently and waited for him to catch his breath. The boy stood straight and grinned at her, his gentle eyes shining with glee.

"Sorry, T.K. I guess I had a lot of energy to burn today." He chuckled, and so did the two Digimon, Patamon and Gatomon, on both of their heads.

"Nah, that's fine. That was fun, but I don't think the others will-"

"Hey, could you guys slow down a little!? We're supposed to be waiting for you, not vice versa!" The two looked in the direction T.K. had come, and smiled knowingly as the rest of the Digidestined gang came running to rejoin them.

"-Appreciate it too much…" The two youngest of the group sweat-dropped as T.K. finished his previous sentence, and continued to stare as the other six Chosen Children finally met them and rested on the sands.

"I…never knew you could…run so fast…T.K." Matt commented as he struggled to speak between gasps for air. The eight-year-old laughed at his older brother's comment, and then Kari joined in, collapsing in the warm sand as the others smiled at them. The laughing session was interrupted, however, when suddenly a great many cries filled the air, and the earth began to shake as footsteps pounded on the ground, one after the other.

"Hey, I-Izzy, what's m-making th-is?!" Tai asked as he turned to his friend, trying his best to make his speech audible as the ground continued to shake.

"Almost there…got it!" The computer genius exclaimed as he sat on the trembling ground, his laptop on his knees while he searched for the name of the oncoming Digimon. "They're called Atriomon (I made them up!), and apparently they can tear up entire mountainsides in one sneeze! Hey wait…it says here they're blind! Better get out of here now!"

"Why? They're blind, aren't they? They won't be able to see us, right?" Tai remarked.

"Exactly. It's the fact that they _**can't**_ see us that makes them so dangerous."

"But what does that mean, Izzy? I mean, sure, they're Digimon and all, but that doesn't mean they're miracle workers, does it?" Sora asked quizzically. Abruptly, the boy's eyes grew wide.

"No time to talk anymore! We have to move! Now!" At Izzy's warning, the party knew to run. They high-tailed it down the beach until the shaking of the ground ceased and the cries were quite distant.

The Digidestined breathed heavily from their almost-encounter, when Mimi inquired about the Atriomon.

"What's so special about those Digimon, Izzy? And how can they see us if they're blind?"

"Well…" Izzy flipped open his laptop again, and was about to answer when they suddenly heard a frantic cry.

"Kari! Hold on!!" It was T.K.'s voice, and the rest of the group quickly realized that the children were not with them, and thus ran back to find T.K., Gatomon, and Patamon watching in terror as Kari was held by one of the weirdest Digimon any of them had ever seen. The Atriomon that was holding Kari had red eyes, abstract red markings all over its face, and the body of a bird mixed with a lion. Its mane and tail were lightning and fire combined, and its whole aura gave off the essence of no mercy.

"Kari!" Tai cried, terrified for his little sister. He was about to step in, but instead, T.K. took charge.

"Patamon, Gatomon, you have to Digivolve, now!" He looked at the two monsters at his side, and they glanced at him determinedly.

"Way ahead of you, buddy!" Patamon replied. "Patamon Digivolve to…Angemon!" A male warrior angel took form in the background of blue, and then it was Gatomon's turn.

"Gatomon Digivolve to…Angewomon!" This time, a female warrior-archer angel flew up into the sky, and they immediately sprang into action.

"All right, let's go!" They affirmed simultaneously, lunging toward the huge offender as they sent their attacks at it.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon cried, and he thrust his mighty, glowing fist towards the creature. It stumbled back, nearly letting the poor girl in its clutches fall, but it held its grip.

"Your turn, Angewomon!" T.K. told the female angel Digimon, and she assumed position.

"Celestial Arrow!" She stretched her bow back, ready to deliver the blow. An arrow of the purest light took form in its respected area, and the angel let it fly straight into the Digimon's data core, turning it back into a Digiegg. Therefore, his hostage was no longer held captive, and she began to fall through the air towards the ground. By now, Angemon and Angewomon had de-Digivolved back to Gatomon and Patamon; meaning, there was no one to catch her. She screamed as she fell, waiting to feel the hard, painful impact of the ground, when she suddenly landed on something gentle and soft, not painful at all. She opened her eyes to see her brother standing there; he was staring at her worriedly as he usually did when she got herself into trouble. He gently put her down, and examined her closely, noticing a small cut on her knee that was still bleeding. Learning from past experiences, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bandage, quickly putting it on after managing to stop the bleeding beforehand.

"Are you okay now, Kari?" He looked up at her from his kneeling position, and she smiled at him.

"Yeah, thanks. No need to worry, Tai, I'm fine, thanks to you and T.K. And Angemon, and Angewomon, of course!" She sat on her knees and hugged him, and he clenched her in return, both smiling that the danger was over and done with. Everyone stared with relieved expressions as they saw the siblings embrace, and they pondered the reason Tai and Kari got along so well; it truly was a mystery, but a beautiful one at that. When they pulled from their hug, Kari spotted T.K. a few feet away from them, holding hands with Patamon as they did their own version of the "victory dance". She laughed slightly, and grinned back at her brother, who whole-heartedly beamed and ruffled her hair as they both stood. She ran over to her rescuers, and they stopped their dance as she rested in front of them, both grinning wildly. "Thank you, T.K., and you too, Patamon. I would have been in a lot of danger if you hadn't noticed I was in trouble." T.K. was about to reply when she leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, causing him to stare at her and blush madly, utterly speechless. When he finally regained his voice, he looked at the ground nervously as he answered her.

"No, I'm just glad y-you're okay. T-Tai would have rung my neck had I let an-nything happen to you. Besides, I couldn't let anything happen to one of my friends, no way! You're much more important to me by far!" He glanced up at the girl, and was instantly worried when he saw that there were tears in her eyes. "Kari? What's wrong? Did I-"

"You didn't do anything!" She replied joyously as she embraced him tightly, and he hugged her back as the rest of the Digidestined watched the scene unfold before them. Matt simply stared at them, puzzled and joking at the same time.

"Now why can my eight-year-old little brother get a girl, and I can't?" At this, everyone burst into laughter, including T.K. and Kari. As the commotion ceased, Izzy got an idea.

"Hey, guys," Everyone looked at him. "Since we're at the beach anyway, why not just spend the day here in the Digital World?"

"Yeah!"

"Boy, that sounds great!"

"Good idea, Izzy!" Tai complimented.

"Should we swim in our clothes?" T.K. asked.

"They'll dry eventually anyway, so it doesn't really matter." Joe speculated.

"What?!" Mimi exclaimed, and everyone peered at her. "This is a designer's dress, are you crazy?! I can't swim in this!"

"But, Mimi, you'll ruin the day for the rest of us because we'll be feeling sorry for you because you won't join us!" Sora reminded her, and the girl's facial expression immediately changed as she sighed.

"Well, if my best girl friend says I have to do it, then I will!" They all cheered. "But, if this salt water doesn't come out, it'll come out of _**your **_pocket at the drycleaners!" Sora kicked the sand in defeat.

"Drat!" Mimi tapped her shoulder and the tomboy turned around to see Mimi winking and giving her the peace sign as she smiled.

"Just kidding! I could care less if this _**was **_a designer! I'd rather pay extra at the dry-cleaners than miss a day with my best friends!" Sora grinned.

"See, I knew you weren't that heartless!"

"Hey!" Both girls beamed playfully at each other, and then burst into laughter as they hugged. Tai and Matt just stared on in wonder and horror. ()

"_**What is it**_ with girls and their hugs?" Tai asked.

"Beats me…" Matt shrugged, and both boys sighed and hung their heads in the atrocity of it all. Suddenly, the girls sprang in front of them, fire in their eyes and shooting from their mouths. The boys jumped, startled and fearing their lives, backed away while trying to calm them down.

"W-Well, you have to admit, it does look pretty weird! You have to at least agree that it's a little…silly?" The girls began to get madder, and he tried a different tactic. "Maybe?" The next thing either of them knew, here were running down the beach as if they were naked, fire-breathing girls hot on their tails.

"_**Why **_did you have to say that, Tai?!" Matt huffed angrily.

"You should know by now that I can't keep my mouth shut!"

"Well, yeah, but…hey, good point, genius!" The 'cool guy' mocked, but both soon felt flaming hot breath on their necks and quickly sped up to a surprising speed. Matt glanced at Tai, who was about to shout something at them, and swiftly clamped a hand over his friend's mouth. "_**Don't say**__** a **__**WORD**_"


	2. Deadly Explanation

Kari, T.K., Patamon, Gatomon, Agumon, Tentomon, Palmon, Biyomon, Gabumon, and Gomamon watched the entertaining struggle with smiles on their faces.

"Well, it looks like they'll be awhile, so why not go for a swim without them?" Gomamon suggested, and the others automatically agreed.

"Yeah, we'll be with you, and wouldn't dare let anything happen, so why not?" Gatomon and Patamon reassured the two youngsters.

"Okay!" (T.K.'s learned to swim by now, as has Joe. Also, they're on the dock.) T.K. grabbed Kari's hand and they took a running start into the ocean.

"One, two, go!!" They shouted as they leaped headlong into the beautiful, waters, the Digimon jumping in simultaneously. Almost immediately after, Tai and Matt followed, trying desperately to get away from their pursuers, but Mimi and Sora went right in after them. Lucky for the boys, the calming waters had put out their fiery tempers, so to speak, and they all relaxed, Tentomon having to drag his partner (Izzy) and Joe from their habitual hobbies and drop them into the water from the air. (Izzy Duh, his laptop, and Joe…practicing being a doctor, or something? Caring for injured Digimon? Not too sure about him…)

"Tentomon, I highly doubt that was necessary, but I understand that you would never have gotten me away had you not forced me against me will, so it's completely all right." Izzy and his Digimon laughed.

"Hey, Izzy…?" Said boy turned to the one who'd called him, and smiled at the second youngest of the Digidestined. She glanced at him, and then looked away as the computer genius looked at her imploringly.

"Yeah? What is it, Kari?" She smiled up at him shyly and replied meekly.

"Well…no, it's nothing I-important. Never mind." However, the boy wouldn't take that kind of answer, and grinned caringly.

"I feel that whatever my friends think is important. You can tell me. Or, if you feel more comfortable talking to your brother, you may converse with him." He offered, moving to the side to allow her passage to her older brother if she wished it. She gently shook her head.

"Actually, I think it would be better if I talked it over with you and Joe, it that's okay."

"Of course it is! Hey, Joe, could you come over here for a second?" The eldest of the group swam over, a cheery grin on his face.

"Hey guys, what do you need?"

"Kari needs to talk to us about something, something that she feels she can't with Tai." Izzy explained. Joe frowned in concern, and was about to speak when Kari interrupted him.

"Come over here." She swam back to the other side of the dock, seeing as they had drifted towards the sea a bit, and the boys followed. When they stopped, Joe finally asked with a gentle, reassuring smile on his face,

"What could be so bad that you couldn't talk to Tai about it, Kari? You know how much he loves you. He would never judge you."

"Yeah, but..." She sighed. "It's _**because **_he loves me so much, and vice versa, that I can't tell him about this. I…I couldn't stand to hurt him again!" He voice grew very quiet and heavy tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She then felt two hands on her shoulders, and peered up to find that they belonged to her two companions. The boys stare at her very worriedly.

"You have to tell us what's wrong, Kari." Joe told her gently, but sternly.

"Please. All we want to do is help you, but to do that, you have to tell us what's going on…all right? We simply want to protect you, Kari. You have to understand that." Izzy smiled positively at her. The distraught girl sniffed as she wiped her eyes, and then began her hurt-filled tale.

"Well, Izzy, you remember when Tai told you about how I almost died when I was little because he made me play soccer with him while I was sick, right?"

"Yeah…" Izzy answered sadly. "I'd never seen him so…broken before... He completely fell apart, into nothing like the Tai I knew. He was so helpless and vulnerable then…it was really frightening. I knew that I never wanted to see him like that ever again…"

"I'm afraid…that's the _**reason **_I won't tell him about this."

"What…what do you mean, Kari? I thought your immune system was up to speed with any other child's nowadays." Izzy asked, confused.

"I…don't think so. If anything…" She couldn't finish, and had to take a few deep breaths before continuing. "I think it might be…well, I don't know…worse."

"But, if that's true, then-?!" The boys cut themselves off, now terrified for their friend's sister's safety.

"You could be in real danger…" Izzy added quietly, his voice very low in worry and fear.

"You know…" Joe started. "There is the possibility that it was simply taking a break all this time, and letting your white blood cells rejuvenate themselves, Kari, thus making the doctors feel as though your immune system _**was **_up to speed, when it was and is actually weaker than before! If that is the case, then no scanner or doctor in the world could have detected it! No wonder you're so frightened…" He stared at her solemnly, his eyes shining brightly with grief and a newfound pain.

"Actually, Joe…that's not exactly it," She stared down at the blue waters of the ocean as she continued on. "I don't need scanners to tell me that my immune system is severely weaker than before, because I can _**feel **_it, deep within me, deep within my soul. That's all I can tell you right now, and has been all along. I don't know what I'm supposed to do…the next cold I catch, or case of measles that I contract could kill me, and I won't be prepared for that! I'm sorry I got you into this, but please…please don't tell Tai. It'll _**crush him **_if he finds out that his sister could die from a common cold! I don't want to hurt him again, not after what memories continue to haunt him even after he's grown up so much, even after _**we've **_grown so. I didn't mean to involve you guys, but…I didn't know what else to do, w-who to turn to…I'm so scared!" She leaped the few centimeters it was to reach the two and wrapped her arms around them in a much-needed embrace, as she cried out her beautiful heart.

The boys hugged her back on reflex, tears in their own eyes that threatened to fall; they wouldn't hear of allowing them to, though. They had to be strong for the eight-year-old in front of them that was clenching them so tightly; they couldn't let her see they were terrified for her as well. It would only make things worse…

Unbeknownst to the three, someone, a small little boy with hopeful blue eyes and blond hair that was always covered with a hat, had been watching them, listening in on their supposed 'private' conversation. He spun around to lean against the think dock pole he'd been hiding behind, his eyes wide with horror as he breathed heavily from shock and panic.

'That can't happen to Kari! I won't let it! I'll protect her; I have to! That's it! I promise to stay by her side always, through everything life has to offer, if it'll keep her safe from harm! Don't worry, Kari, I'll be with you the whole way, I promise! Nothing's gonna stop Takeru Takashi, not when it's about protecting someone I care about!' He peered back at the hysterical girl, and vowed that he would always keep that promise.


	3. Destiny Strikes

_**Time Lapse**_

…_**Four Years Later…**_

Four years had passed since that eye-opening day in the Digital World, and T.K. and Kari were on a Digidestined team of their own now, attending the seventh grade together, along with the rest of their team. It seemed that T.K. had forgotten all about the promise he'd made, but, in truth, its essence was still engraved in his heart. He still made sure she was protected from any Digimon that tried to harm her, and comfort her when she was sad. He never wasn't there when she needed him; he was always there, ready to give her a smile of encouragement and strength, ready to put his life at risk for her own, if the need arose. Maybe it was because a part of him still remembered that promise he'd made to her so long ago. Or maybe it was because he loved her. Truly, he loved her with all his heart. He could swear she knew that, and yet, she never seemed to mind when he let something slip, something they both knew should have been kept inside. That was another reason he loved her so much; he could say anything, anything at all, and she'd never take offense to it, or use it against him later. He'd never known that anyone could be as close to him as she was, but here he was, waiting for his 'best friend' to walk to school with him.

Sometimes, it hurt to say those words; sometimes he wished they could be, or mean, so much more than they did. Then, other times, he found himself glad that they were merely that, 'best friends'; unfortunately, his conscience would quickly remind him that he absolutely adored and cared for this Kamiya girl more than anyone else in the world, and his heart would begin to ache with confusion and an unwanted pain. However, he would always come back to the conclusion that he loved this girl completely, and that would never change. His thoughts were abruptly cut short as he heard Kari call down to him from the balcony of her apartment.

"I'm coming, T.K., sorry! I'll be right down!" She reentered her bedroom and exited her home, thus running down the apartment stairs until she stopped in front of him, smiling brightly. Even so, T.K. could tell something was off.

"Are you feeling okay today, Kari?" He asked worriedly, and she gave him a look of confusion.

"What do you mean? I feel fine. Are _**you **_feeling all right?" She asked, and gently pressed her palm against his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever. He simply smiled and blushed only slightly as she pulled her hand away and grinned. "Well, you feel normal to me. But as I said, I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for being concerned, T.K." He smiled back, but eyed her worriedly as they began the long walk to school.

Cody and Yolei, the rest of their team besides Davis and Ken, had gone ahead of them to prepare for the County Science Fair they'd managed to finalize in, so it was just the two of them today. Not that they minded; they loved each other's company more than anyone else's, and it was nice to get some time alone like this once in awhile. After all, it was an absolute ingredient required in every friendship if it is to survive. They'd just crossed the street that was taken over by Yolei's parent's general store customers when T.K. noticed that Kari was beginning to fall behind. He stopped and walked back to her side, leaning down slightly to peer into her face as best he could, what with her head bent toward the ground.

"Are you all right?" She opened her eyes tiredly and nodded, smiling slightly.

"Y-Yeah, I just got really tired all of a sudden. Maybe I didn't get as much sleep last night as I thought. Don't worry, I'll be okay." He stared at her, searching her face for any sign that she something was wrong on the inside, that she really was in some kind of pain, but she didn't let anything show if that was the case. He nodded, and replied,

"All right…" but his voice and eyes revealed hesitance and worry. He resumed his place beside her, glancing at her every once in awhile as his thoughts ran wild. 'She's acting really weird…I hope she's doing all right. If something happened to her…I don't know what I'd do. She means everything to me...I love her, after all. What if…there really is something wrong? What if…she really is sick, and it's life threatening or something? She wouldn't tell me if there was something wrong because she wouldn't want me to worry…I learned that four years ago when she had that bad fever in the Digital World, and she didn't say anything because she didn't want to slow us down…Please, please let her be all right!' He prayed silently, and looked at the ground in worry as he did so. He turned to her nervously and was about to speak, when she pulled him out of the way of a gang of skateboarding troublemakers from their school, whom had been about to run over him. He sighed in relief as the gang rode away, and twisted around to thank her, when he noticed she was simply lying there on the ground, scarcely shallowly. He gasped and knelt down beside her, trying to wake her as fear ran through his veins, his heart pounding rapidly.

"Kari…?" He asked fearfully, but the girl never budged. "Kari, wake up! We're going to be late for school!" He knew how much she hated missing her classes, and he remembered Tai telling him that was his best tactic for getting her out of bed every morning on a school day. But now, it did nothing but send him into even more of a panic. "Kari, please, open your eyes! Come, on, please don't do this to your best friend! You have to wake up now! You're really scaring me! Please, come on!"

"T.K.!!" The distraught boy looked up to find Cody, Yolei, Ken, and Davis at his side, ready to help in any way they could.

"What happened? Is Kari all right?" Ken inquired hastily.

"I-I don't know! S-She just collapsed, I…I don't know." He quieted and stared at her.

"Well, we can't just sit here and waste time like this! We have to get her to the hospital before she gets any worse!" The youngest of the new Digidestined pointed out smartly.

"Cody's right! Let's do it, fast!" Yolei cried impulsively, and T.K. tenderly lifted Kari into his arms as they made a run for it to the city hospital.


	4. The Walls Start Coming Down

They raced up the steps and burst through the hospital doors, and a young male doctor ran up to them as he saw the girl in one of the boy's arms and the five's worried expressions.

"What happened?!"

"I'm not sure. We were walking to school when she suddenly collapsed on the sidewalk. She won't respond, and her older brother told me she had a weak immune system when she was younger, and it got even weaker four years ago. That's all I can tell you about her condition, though. Her name is Kari Kamiya, and she's twelve-years-old. She lives in the apartment complex a small ways away from here, and she has two parents and an older brother in high school. We're her friends. Please, you've got to help her, I'm begging you. Do everything you can." The doctor nodded and then turned as he called a gurney over, along with a few doctors, and softly laid Kari on the rolling bed. He twisted back to them and looked into each of their eyes, silently telling them that they'd do their best, as they then rolled the gurney through the double doors that cut them off from the waiting room in which the third generation of the Digidestined now stood. They quietly found vacant seats and heavily sat down, their spirits being weighed by their grave hearts. Well, at least for T.K., since he was the only one who _**really**_ knew what was going on. The silence remained until Cody thought of something rather important.

"Hey, T.K.," The boy lifted his head from its position of resting on his legs, which were currently brought up to his chest, and waited for the smaller to continue. "You should probably call Tai and tell him what's happening with his sister. He deserves to know. Then you should tell _**us **_what's going on, since we're part of the team as well."

"Right." The taller boy got up and strode over to a vacant pay phone, where he called Tai's cell phone number after depositing the appropriate change, praying the high schooler had left his phone on during class again. He was in luck. A few seconds later the boy picked up, sounding a bit agitated.

"T.K., do you realize you just got me sent out of the classroom? This had better be important,"

"It's about Kari. She's-"

"What? Did something happen?" He interrupted.

"Yeah, something _**did **_happen. She collapsed on our way to school. She wouldn't wake up, and we, meaning the new Digidestined and I, are here at the hospital. They took her in just a few minutes ago. They haven't given us any news yet."

"All right, I'll be over there as fast as I can. Don't worry about calling my parents, I've got that part covered."

"Good, thanks. Should I call the rest of the team, too?"

"No, better not. I'd rather they yell at me than you. You don't deserve it; you didn't put them in danger with your stupid plans countless times in the Digital World when you were younger, like I did. Thanks for calling me, little buddy." The younger boy smiled.

"No problem, see you when you get here."

"Yeah, bye." He hung up the phone slowly and walked half-heartedly back to his chair as he resumed his earlier position of his head on his knees.

'How could I let this happen…?' He asked himself again, but was not given the chance to answer his rhetorical question as Cody timidly spoke up.

"Uh…T.K.?" Said boy looked up and gave a minute smile to the small twelve-year-old in front of him. Cody returned it and peered up at him shyly. "Um…well, since we don't know what's going on, could you tell us? It seems that you know the situation inside and out." T.K. smiled a bit wider and nodded.

"Sure," The others were silent as T.K. began his story. "It was four years ago in the Digital World when I overheard Kari talking with Joe and Izzy about her immune system, and how she knew that it had gotten dangerously weaker since she was younger, and the doctors had been fooled because her immune system had allowed itself a break to rejuvenate its white blood cells for awhile. I remember her begging them not to tell Tai, that it would crush him if he learned that his little sister could die from a common cold, because they'd both been down that path another time when they were younger, and it had been Tai's fault. He'd had her play soccer with him while she was sick, and she collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital, and they almost lost her. He'd been scarred from that, and she couldn't bear to hurt him again from reopening those wounds. So, you see, Kari loves her brother so much that she'd rather suffer through tremendous pain than put him through so much grief like she did back then, at least, that's how she sees the situation. She can't let that part of herself go, but I know Tai would rather it if she did." The group was silent for a long time after he refined, and they all stared at their laps absent-mindedly in wonder, trying to decipher how such a small girl could hold so much grief and fear in her heart, and yet be as loving and gentle as she was.

Suddenly, the hospital doors burst open again, breaking the silence that plagued the dismal room. The younger Digidestined looked up from their thoughts to see a very out of breath family of Kamiyas, as well as every other older Digidestined, standing in front of them. Matt immediately went to his brother's side and hugged him tightly, knowing how hard this must be for him; he'd known all along how T.K. felt about Kari, and he knew the pain his brother was going through. T.K. held on strongly to his protective older brother, needing his comfort and love now more than ever. The newcomers patiently found non-occupied chairs and waited for the brothers to end the embrace so they could get down to business. However, Tai was in mental turmoil, much more so than his parents beside him. He stared down at his tightly clasped hands in supposed concentration, but everyone in their Digigroup knew that he was thinking of his sister. Who wouldn't at a time like that? He slowly peered up at the blond-headed, hat-wearing boy across from him, who was currently being nurtured by his brother.

"T…T.K.," He quietly began after discovering his voice. The siblings separated and T.K. peered at him solemnly.

"Yeah, Tai?"

"What…happened? I don't-"

"Um, pardon me," Tai was interrupted mid-ponder as a young man shyly walked over to them, and T.K. instantly recognized him as the doctor that had taken Kari. He leapt from his chair and demanded,

"Is Kai all right?! Do you know what's wrong yet?!" After discovering that this doctor was the one that had handled his sister, Tai stared at the man intently, waiting for an answer. The doctor saw the family of three and his face showed the smallest hint of a greeting as he turned a few pages on his clipboard and replied,

"You must be the Kamiyas, yes? Kari's older brother and parents?"

"Yes, sir. These are her parents, or rather, ours, and I'm her older brother, Tai. Now, _**is she all right?"**_ Tai asked forcefully, and the doctor's eyes softened as he gave them a grave smile.

"My name is Dr. Hiro Kayo, and I…I think it would be best if you came with me. You may rejoin your group later. These are family matters alone, after all. And you may want this time to come to proper terms with something yet to be explained to most of you in words. Particularly, three of you." He eyed Joe, Izzy, and T.K. before leading the family down the hall to one of the private conference rooms, leaving the three flabbergasted.

"But what…could he mean by that?" Joe asked, and he looked to Izzy for an answer.

"I don't know. Maybe he's been staying late at the hospital; did you see the bags under his eyes? He appeared to be exhausted." They both looked over to T.K., who'd been silent the whole time. Abruptly, the boy gasped and peered at them with wide eyes.

"'Something yet to be explained in words' means what we've been keeping inside all these years! Don't you understand? It's what we've failed to tell Tai!" Every original Digidestined stared at him like he was nuts.

"What are you talking about, T.K.? We've never kept anything from him!" Sora cried, believing that what she said was true.

'If only she was right…' T.K. thought as he peered guiltily at the door Tai and his family has just passed through.

"Actually, Sora, there is something we've kept from him…and it has something to do with Kari's condition." Joe replied, his voice also heavy with guilt. He didn't have a chance to explain as the door to the room Tai and his family had entered opened, and out stepped a hysterical Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya (mostly the Mrs.) followed by a silent Tai, his face portraying shock at its highest level. Dr. Kayo led them back to their chairs, that grave expression still plastered on his face as he watched the family take their seats, quiet as ghosts and numb as petrified wood. He sighed, and then turned to the rest of the 'family' that was seated in front of him, silently wishing he didn't have to be the one to deliver this news.

"I…I'm afraid I have some sad news for you all…on behalf of your friend, Kari Kamiya. We have confirmed her condition as, not quite AIDS, as it is called in America, but something very similar. Even so, hers is…a much faster spreading and ten times as deadly a branch of AIDS, and it is called HDIRD, otherwise known as Human Deficiency to Immune Recovery Disease," Attention then shifted to Joe as he began to speak.

"That condition is one I've read and heard about, but I've never had to face it personally before. This disease is…a condition that can take, at maximum, five years to take effect, but when it does, the results are disastrous. As you know, AIDS is a disease that attacks the white blood cells that protect the immune system, and when all of the white cells are gone, the immune system is vulnerable to anything you throw at it. It can take several years for this disease to kick in, but the steps are so painful that many times, all people want to do is die rather than deal with it. Some take their own lives, it gets so bad. With HDIRD, it's even worse. It takes a shorter amount of time for it to kick in, and before the person infected even has it, it can kill them within a week, at best. Dr. Kayo, is there any way that Kari could have contracted this disease? _**Normally**_, I mean?" Joe asked, being the doctor-in-training.

"Well, as it is a virus, she could have gotten it anywhere, really, from the store, to school, and even from a very close friend. The possibilities go on for ages. I can say we ran some tests, and she _**did **_contract it in that sort of situation. Now, I must leave to gather more information, but I will come back when I have some sure fire news, I promise you. However, for your sake, I will relay the news we have so far," He turned to Tai and his family, as this was news they'd not heard yet. They peered up at him and nodded for him to go on. "Kari is currently in the ICU, and she has not yet woken up from her slumber. Her breathing is a bit below normal limits, and her heart rate has slowed down a fair amount as well. She is not on death's door yet, but that's all we've gathered thus far. I'm sorry. I'll leave you now." He despairingly walked back through the double doors, leaving the close-knit group crumbling to pieces behind him. Soon, though, the attention was brought towards Tai as he muffled a whimper into his sleeve and wiped a tear from his eye. He again stared down at his tightly folded hands in his lap, his face contorted with pain, worry, fear, and one more emotion not one person in the room recognized. His eyes were filled with those same emotions, and everyone could tell he was trying not to lose his cool and cry in front of them; he was trying to act like the tough leader he'd been four years ago, and still was. Yet, when he felt a gentle, loving hand on his shoulder, he lifted his head to peer into beautiful eyes, eyes that could only belong to Sora. The tomboyish beauty stared at him and smiled softly in that tender way of hers, and he knew then that it was all right for him, their leader, to cry; it was natural in this circumstance, and everyone would still love him afterwards. So, he did. Sora pulled him close to her and held him firmly as he began to shake as the tears erupted from his eyes, and he hugged her back as her own tears started to fall.


	5. Disease Kept Secret

T.K. turned his head away and peered down at his lap as his own eyes clouded with tears. He closed them, but his eyelids shook as he struggled to keep his tears hidden, not wanting to look like that crybaby he'd been when he was younger. Just as Matt was about to comfort him again, a new hand appeared on T.K.'s shoulder, and the boy looked to his side to find his friends, Ken and Cody and Yolei smiling at him, and it was then that the tears that he'd held back streamed down his face. (Davis had fallen asleep a long time ago, considering he'd stayed up until four 'o clock that morning playing video games, as it was a weekend. Well, the end of one, anyway).

"Don't worry, T.K., Kari's strong, we all know that. She's the strongest person I've ever met, and I believe she can make it through this. You have to as well, if she's too make it out of here." Yolei told him gently.

"Yeah, T.K., Yolei's right. If you," Ken whispered as quietly as he could into his ear, "The one who loves her more than anyone else," He pulled away and resumed the three-way conversation. "Gives up on her, then she's finished!"

"Don't give up, T.K.," Cody smiled, his eyes shining as tears quietly filled them. "If you give up, then that means we'll all have to. You're the Chosen Child of Hope, and it's all of our hope on yours." He swiftly wiped his eyes and took the twelve-year-old's hand, holding it firmly as he placed his other palm against it, and the others of their team soon joined in and placed one palm after the other on top of T.K.'s. He simply stared at them in confusion, and then he understood.

"All of your hope on my hope! I remember now! That was what I said on our first adventure in the Digital World, when we were just about to defeat Apocalymon, our final and most deadly enemy," He smiled at them whole-heatedly, his eyelashes clinging to the tears they'd managed to capture. "Thanks, you guys. I didn't give up then and I can't give up now! No way!" They all raised the mountain made of their hands into the air, and cheered, synchronized,

"Yeah!!" The old Digidestined grinned at the kids that were giving them newfound hope, but then Joe's face turned dark. Izzy saw this and asked, concerned,

"What's wrong, Joe?" The boy's eyes peered at the floor.

"We still haven't told him yet."

"Oh…"

"Told who what?" Tai asked, and T.K. left his ring of friends to stand by them in shame.

"…Tai…?" T.K. began, and the boy's cheery face turned to a frown.

"What is it?" The boys looked at each other, and then turned their heads towards the person in question.

"There's something we need to tell you. It's…we know something about Kari's virus that most of you don't."

"Really? What is it?!" Tai asked hurriedly, but when he saw their plagued expressions, he quieted and let them finish what they'd started.

"It happened in the Digital World four years ago, the day T.K. defeated the Atriomon and saved Kari. When you were all out in the water at the beach, Kari requested that we, Joe and I, talk to her about something. Of course, we said yes, and went with her to talk privately. There she told us that she couldn't talk to you about it and begged us not to say a single word to you. Then she said that she could feel her immune system, which, as you know was weak when she was younger, but that it had actually gotten much, much weaker over the years, which is the opposite of what the doctors were saying. See, the doctors were fooled because her…well, actually the HDIRD had taken a break from killing her white blood cells, and that's why, she said, the doctors had the wool pulled over their eyes; because of the trickery of the disease. It waited until the doctors found her 'cured' and 'well' to show itself again, which is what happened four years ago, and it finally struck her down today. I'm sorry we never told you, Tai. We didn't know what it was back then. We're _**all **_sorry." By this time, Tai's face was filled with shock and betrayal, and even more tears ran down his face. Izzy saw this and his face softened even more than it had.

"Tai…We-" The genius didn't even have time to finish as Tai came crashing forward and pinned him to one of the chairs. The computer geek's eyes widened as he saw the rage and sorrow his leader felt, and immediately regretted not telling him sooner. He didn't look away, though, and stared him right back in the face, ready for anything he got, which probably served him right anyway. He heard the commotion around them as the friends and parents tried to get Tai off of him, but it was soon blocked out as Izzy was staring into those pained eyes that lay in front of him, and the felt fifteen-year-old's tears splattered onto his face. Abruptly, a memory flowed back into his mind, and his eyes widened; he knew what he had to say. "Tai, I know you're furious at me, but…" The room went dead silent (no pun intended :P) as the quietest of the original Chosen Children began to speak in his loudest and most serious voice. "At least know this: Kari didn't want us to tell you because she didn't want you getting hurt again, emotionally speaking. She loves you so much that she would rather have lived in silent fear of what was going to happen to her, than to cause you more pain like she did when you were younger. She _**knows **_you still grieve about the accident you caused that almost killed her when you were little, and that's why she didn't want you told of what was going on. _**That's **_the reason, Tai, because your sister loved, and still does, love you more than anyone else." Izzy stared hard into the boy's eyes and was relieved when they began to soften and realization came to mind. Tai began to slowly lift himself from the young scholar, and sat back in his chair with his head in his hands, his eyes glazed over as if in a daze. Izzy sighed heavily and wiped the tear stains from his face as Matt and Mimi helped him to his feet, but he soon returned his understanding gaze to Tai. He softly strode over to his friend and placed a warm hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to look up at him sadly. Izzy took one of the seats beside him and sighed while smiling caringly.

"All right, Tai, look. I know that what we did was wrong and we're all really sorry for what we've done. We shouldn't have kept that information from you when it involved your sister. We'd forgotten about it until today; you have to believe that we would _**never **_hurt you on purpose. We love you, Tai…all of us." He comfortingly beamed at the confused high schooler and patted his hand before raising his up own hand to gesture to all the people around them. Tai smiled, knowing what his friend was trying to do.

"Don't worry, Izzy, I understand. I'd like to apologize to you too; I'm the one who pinned you to the chair! Hey, you're not hurt anywhere from that are you?" He asked worriedly, and the head of the school computer club laughed as he rubbed his left shoulder.

"Ah, just a small bruise, it doesn't matter. It'll be gone by next week anyway. Then again, with my luck, I'll probably hit it again before the afternoon is over!"

"I thought being the master of klutz's was my job!?" Joe pointed out, and the room erupted into brilliant laughter.


	6. Frights Day In, Frights Day Out

Unexpectedly, the group paused and turned to the double doors as frenzied shouting was suddenly heard from behind them, and soon enough the doors ruptured open again to reveal several doctors making a run for the ICU, Dr. Kayo right on their tails.

"Dr. Kayo! Wait!" Tai shouted, and the doctor hurriedly rushed back to them. "Is it about my sister?" The doctor nodded quickly and kept his eye on the other doctors as he hopped from left foot to right in his anxiety.

"Yes, she's gotten worse! She's stopped breathing, and she's got the slightest heartbeat and pulse on record! I have to go, now!!" He raced in the direction the other doctors had gone to get to the ICU and help all he could, leaving the Digidestined and their families (or rather, ONE family) in a chaotic mess. Tai simply stood there in alarm and fright for his little sister, when his mother flung herself on him and cried like there was no tomorrow.

'Which, there might not be…for Kari…' He thought, and his head went down in defeat. 'No! I can't think like that! If I don't have hope, then who will? I have to be strong! Kari wouldn't give up, so neither will I!' He suddenly caught a glimpse of T.K. and saw that the kid was in hysterics, leaning into Matt's chest for support while his brother's arms 'protected' him from the outside world for those few moments. He gently handed his mother over to his father, and then went to kneel down in front of T.K. The twelve-year-old saw him and slowly brought his head out of his brother's chest, and Matt stared at his best guy friend in the world, his blue eyes reflecting the grief he felt on the inside, even if he wouldn't let himself cry on the out. Then Tai's attention was turned back to T.K.

"You okay there, little buddy?" The blond boy stared at the ground bitterly, yet sadly.

"How could you ask that question, Tai?" He sighed. "Of _**course**_ I'm not okay, but there's nothing I can do about it. The girl I've fallen in love with is on the brink of death, and all along, I know there's something I could have done to stop it…"

"Listen, T.K., my sister is not going to die, all right? You have to trust her, to give her the chance to heal herself, and there's nothing you could have done to help her."

"That's where you're _**wrong**_, Tai. I could have stopped this whole thing from happening, but I had to do what Kari said and keep it a secret! Oh great, and look how that turned out! Don't you understand?! I am the rock that causes the fall! I am the rapid that causes the drowning! I caused this, Tai, you didn't! Yes, I _**could**_ have stopped it, but I didn't!" The room went still as it suddenly got loud, and everyone listened intently to the conversation between the two Chosen Children.

"But that's where _**you're **_wrong, T.K.,"

"Huh…?"

"You see, the point to me is that you did what Kari asked. You didn't let her down by keeping her secret; you helped her when she needed it, and that's why I have to thank you. You aided her in her time of need, and that's all I want from any of my friends, ever. They can be total jerks every other time, but when someone desperately needs something, they had better be willing to help," He smiled and gave T.K. the thumbs up sign as he winked. "Or they'll answer to me!" All three boys laughed, and everyone beamed at them as they made the gloomy situation a bit brighter. By the time his father had gotten his mother to calm down, and everyone else's parents had arrived, it was past nightfall, and Tai had fallen asleep right next to T.K., Matt, Izzy, Sora, Joe, Mimi, and the rest of the new Chosen Children in one row of chairs, while the parents either watched over them or slept in the other. A few of them didn't sleep for most of the night, staying by the adolescents in case they woke up screaming like T.K. or Tai had earlier that evening. It seemed like just about everyone had missed quite a bit of sleep, but none more so than Izzy and his parents, since they refused to go to bed while their son was trying so hard to find more information on Kari's disease. Or at least, beyond what the doctors and Joe had told them, which he knew wouldn't be much, but he wanted to try anyway. The fourteen-year-old turned from his laptop to Tai and frowned as he watched the boy breathe as if relaxed, when his face showed complete discomfort in every way imaginable.

'The only reason he fell asleep was because he was emotionally and mentally drained from putting too much stress on himself, and having so much going on in his life at once. He was physically drained from the way he put excessive stress on his body when he went berserk with me, and how he ran all the way here from his high school. Poor guy.' He smiled, however, as the Digidestined leader mumbled in his sleep,

"Sorry for what happened, Izzy…"

"Don't worry about it," He whispered softly and took the blanket from around his shoulders and draped it across Tai. "It's a new day in a few hours anyhow." Then he crept back to his laptop, closed it, and fell into a deep sleep beside his parents.

_**It's a short chapter, I know, sorry. I don't want to spoil it! If you want to find out what happens next, read the following chapter!**_


	7. Hospital Sneakery

**…The Next Morning…**

"Prodigious! I've found it!" Everyone instantaneously awoke at the computer genius's trademark vocabulary, and rushed to peer over his shoulder as he ogled the screen.

"What is it you found, Izzy?" Tai asked, and the others, who hadn't stayed awake long enough to know what Izzy was talking about, murmured agreements of confusion. The boy turned from his laptop to face the crowd, and they waited for his explanation.

"I spent the majority of last night looking for more information on Kari's virus, and I finally found what we need!" He pointed to his screen and explained. "Here are the symptoms to the virus, the average time span one can survive once it activates, the probability of surviving in different areas of the world, and several other topics that should help us in understanding what's going on inside Kari and possibly how we can lend the doctors a hand! Although, these men and women are professionals, so they probably know all of this input anyway, but it will definitely assist us in the long run."

"Nice work, Izzy! You're the man!" Tai congratulated, smacking him on the back, causing the boy to nearly fall to the ground.

"I try." Everyone laughed, and then a young nurse walked up to them.

"Pardon my intrusion, but I imagine that you're pretty hungry since I noticed you haven't eaten since early morning yesterday, so I was wondering if you would follow me to the staff cafeteria? I know you really aren't allowed in there, but since it is your daughter," She paused and looked Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya in the eyes before resuming her all-around conversation. "That is in such critical condition, I don't see how the chief could possibly say no. Would you like to take up my offer?" The Digigroup looked at her and then each other, silently asking the opinions of the others. Soon enough, they all turned back with gigantic smiles plastered on their faces.

"Yes, please!" They cried simultaneously, and the woman beamed cheerily.

"All right then, come right this way. Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Clairice, by the way." She led them down many a corridor before they finally were met with a door that read 'Cafeteria For Hospital Personnel Only'. She appeared to be peeking inside to make sure that her boss or any of her close co-workers were nowhere in sight before she twirled back to them and grinned.

"Okay, the coast is clear. Just follow me. IF anyone comes in, don't say anything. I'll do the talking." She winked and slowly opened the door.

"Why does it suddenly feel like we're in one of those old spy movies I used to watch?" Matt whispered into Mimi's ear, and she giggled quietly. Clairice led them into a large white room with five deep purple tables and chairs, along one wall, and along the other was the buffet-style cafeteria. It seemed as if they were the first ones there. "We have to do this quick so we can get out of here before anyone catches us!" Clairice hissed, and pointed to the exit door on the opposite wall. Mimi frowned as she looked about the room.

"What's with the depressing colors?" Clairice shrugged.

"They couldn't find anything that went with the walls, and then finally this gothic patient of ours a few years back suggested dark purple, so…it's basically always been this color. Not particularly my taste either, but, what can you do?" Mimi laughed at the girl's humor. She showed them where to pick up their trays and then they swiftly moved down the line of food, which ranged from salad to sandwiches for lunch, eggs, pancakes, or biscuits and gravy for breakfast, and roast beef, chicken, or rice bowls for dinner. When everyone had finished choosing, Clairice led them through the exit door and back to their seats. Clairice sat by herself in one of the chairs that was partially set apart from the others, and began to eat. She swallowed when a shadow loomed over her, and looked up to find Joe smiling at her.

"Hi, my name's Joe Kido, and I'm studying to be a doctor,"

"Really? It's nice to meet you, Joe! Oh, please sit down, there's plenty of room," After he was settled, she continued. "It's great that you're going into the medical field; we need more doctors here anyway. People tend to be getting sicker and sicker these days, what with all the diseases found around the world. Like the one that your Kari contracted; it actually originated from somewhere in the British Isles,"

"I have a question for you, Clairice," She nodded. "How do you know about Kari and what's going on with her?"

"Well, in a small hospital such as this, news travels fast. Also, with all the yelling doctors yesterday, it wasn't hard to gather at least some information."

"Oh, I see. Would you know how many cases there are of HDIRD on record?"

"Um…" She pulled out a clipboard and turned quite a few pages until she spotted the one she needed. "Oh! Here we go! It says…that there have been exactly…oh, dear,"

"What's wrong?" The sixteen-year-old asked worriedly.

"Well…it seems that there have only been six throughout the world." Joe's eyes widened in astonishment, and then he frowned as he peered over to where Tai, T.K., and Izzy were looking up the page on his laptop he'd shown them that morning.

"Great," He hung his head and closed his eyes in deep thought, knowing what this could mean for his friend's little sister.

Just in the midst of their breakfasts and discouraging conversations, Dr. Kayo came running up to them, and Tai stood instantly, as did his parents. The man was breathing hard as sweat dripped from his face and drenched his white coat, and his face was pale as his legs shook. He smiled at them, however, and the group was given new hope.

"You sister…is as stable as she'll…ever be for now. We've done all…we can for the moment. We'll just have to wait and see. It's…safe to see her now….if you'd like." At that, T.K. stood as well, and Tai smiled at him, the younger beaming with a relief unlike any the older had never seen. Mrs. Kamiya turned to the doctor.

"Is she awake?"

"Barely, but yes."

"Would you like to sit down?" The man chuckled as the younger immediately plunked down into the chair nearest him. Clairice got up from her seat and came back with a damp paper towel to lie on the exhausted doctor's forehead, which he greatly appreciated. T.K. stared Tai straight in the eyes, and the older boy smiled and nodded, silently accepting what the boy was inquiring. The younger then moved from his seat to be beside the Dr. Kayo, who smiled as he saw him.

"Excuse me, sir, but…"

"You are free to visit her now, if you are **that** anxious." He chuckled slightly, completely understanding the boy's reason for being in a hurry. T.K. grinned whole-heartedly.

"Thank you, Dr. Kayo."


	8. Playing With the Heart Strings

"Don't mention it, kid. Clairice, will you show him the way to Miss Kamiya's room?"

"Yes, sir." The woman stood and motioned for T.K. to follow her as she led him through the double doors to the ICU. They came to room 207, and Clairice told him to wait as she entered the room, and then came out again a few minutes later. She put a hand on his shoulder and he peered up at her with respect. "I told her nurse that you would be in, and I said you _**might **_want some private time with her," She winked and he blushed brightly. "So she will be watching through that sound proof window in case something goes wrong," He frowned at the last statement, but allowed her to continue. "I'll be right outside the door to take you back to your group once you're done, okay?" He nodded. She lightly pushed him towards the door, and he cautiously opened it to see a large room with Kari in the middle, connected to several machines beside her through IVs and he saw that the respirator tube had been taken from her throat and laid on the table beside her bed. He quietly tiptoed inside and took a seat in the chair that rested beside her, and checked her over. Numerous IVs had been poked into her veins, and he noticed that she had been changed into a white hospital gown; he also saw that there was still that smudge on her cheek from when she'd fallen on the sidewalk yesterday morning. He shivered; that scene still sent chills up his spine. Then he suddenly had the urge to think back to just before she collapsed, when that skateboard gang almost ran him over. He thought particularly about the way Kari had pulled him to safety, how softly she'd touched him… Then, it hit him.

'She _**was **_trying to save me, but she was also trying to grab on to me as a support when she began to fall! That should have told me right then something was wrong! Why didn't I see that sooner!' He breathed heavily and tears came to his eyes as he looked at the pale girl. 'I could have helped her faster had I realized what was happening! How could I have been so blind?!'

"I'm sorry, Kari. I'm so sorry. If only I'd-" Suddenly, he stopped as the twelve-year-old before him began to stir. She scrunched her eyes tightly and seemed to stretch as she lifted her chest towards the ceiling, and then calmly lay down again as the boy watched on hopefully. "Kari?" The girl's eyes opened slowly, and the moment her fiery amber eyes came into his view, and her brilliant smile touched his heart, he jumped from the chair and called Clairice and Kari's nurse into the room. They bundled into the room with joyous smiles on their faces, and continued to stare until Clairice suggested that she tell the doctors immediately. Kari's nurse went to her charge's side, and asked her quietly,

"How are you feeling, dear? Can you breathe okay?"

"It's…a bit hard at times, but I'm all right. Hey, T.K.?" The boy stepped up as she smiled and looked him in the eyes.

"Yeah, Kari?"

"I know you're probably blaming yourself for what happened to me, but you have to know that none of this was your fault, nor will it ever be. It was my choice not to tell my brother, to only let Joe and Izzy know; I didn't know you were watching us back then, so I didn't know you knew what happened… It was my own fault for keeping this a secret; I know I should have dealt with the pain of destroying my brother rather than let it get this far, but I couldn't do that! You know how much I hate hurting people I care about, especially the Digidestined, in particularly you. I don't want to hurt you either, but," Tears suddenly made their way down her precious face, and T.K., though very worried, let her speak. "I can see it in your eyes; I've already broken your heart," Abruptly, she stopped as the door to her room opened and Tai and her parents walked in. The nurse smiled at them, and they in return, and then left the room to give the group some privacy. Tai and his parents took seats on one side of Kari while T.K. remained in the other, and the room was silent for a long time. Then Kari moved her head around, peering into each of their eyes as she did so, wanting to decipher the emotions she saw in them. She barely held back a sob as tears flowed even more rapidly down her face, and the gang suddenly began to worry.

"Why are you crying, sweetheart?" Her mother asked as she grabbed her hand, and Mr. Kamiya put his hand on top of his wife's. She opened her previously tightly closed eyes and stared at them as she shook her head, eyes filled with an incredible amount of grief and burning.

"I…It's all the same. All of you have that same look in your eyes…"

"W-What look, honey?" Her Father asked.

"The one that's burning a hole in your heart at this very moment, the one that you have right now, as you're seeing me in this state. I hate this! I hate causing you pain like this! It would have been better if I'd told you right off; then at least you wouldn't have to be going through what you are now! How could I be so selfish?!"

"But you're not!" Everyone turned to T.K., the source of the outburst. He sighed and smiled at her minutely. "You weren't being selfish, Kari, never a day in your life have you been! You wanted to protect your brother and the rest of us from the pain we're feeling now, but…what you don't understand is…it was inevitable. There was no way you could have stopped this or gotten it cured, so either way, whether you told us or didn't, this pain would still have come no matter what you did. Do you understand now? You thought you were saving us, when really…there was no saving that could have been done." He gently smiled and took the hand on his side of the bed, squeezing it tightly as she nodded, a small smile lighting up her face.

"Thank you, T.K. Somehow you always know what to say, don't you?"

"That's the plan!" They laughed and he slowly withdrew a handkerchief from his side pocket and handed it to her, letting go of her hand to allow her to wipe her eyes and face. When she finished, she handed it back and he carefully set it on her bedside table; she gave him a flabbergasted expression. "That's in case you need it again, silly." She grinned gratefully, but was, without warning, suddenly overcome by a frantic coughing attack, with no time to breathe in between. T.K. and the Kamiyas jumped from their chairs when Kari's nurse rushed into the room, along with several of the doctors from last night, and they were quickly ushered out into the hall, where Clairice led them back to their seats.

The remaining old and new Digidestined smiled at them as they reentered the room, but then frowned deeply when they saw their ashen faces and slow movements. After they plopped back down in their chairs, the room was so quiet, only the sound of the wind outside could be heard, along with the typing and scratch of the ward clerk's keyboard and pen.

"Are you guys okay? Is Kari all right?" Joe asked, disturbed at his friends' lack of sound and smiles.

"Kari had some sort of…coughing attack, and by the looks of how many doctors entered the room, I'd say it's pretty bad…" Tai finally spoke up, and those who hadn't been there with them widened their eyes in alarm.

"Is she going to be all right, Tai?" Sora inquired worriedly as she swiftly got up from the floor and sat in one of the chairs beside him, tightly enclosing his wrist in her hand, the other gripping her pant leg so hard she swore she was cutting off its circulation. The fifteen-year-old hung his head and sighed deeply.

"I don't know, Sora…I don't know. No matter how much I wish I did." The high school girl hugged the boy from the side, and then silence reigned again as the depression really began to settle in. The desolate demeanor was interrupted, however, when Clairice's cell phone went off, and T.K. watched as her expression darkened, and she hung up. She quietly stood and said in a shaky voice,

"Would the Kamiyas please come with me to your daughter and sister's room? I have some urgent news you should hear." The family nodded and stood, Sora reluctantly letting go of Tai and giving him an encouraging smile as the family was led back to Kari's room.

"It seems like it's just a recurring of the same thing over and over again." T.K. groaned, and Davis turned to him.

"What do you mean, T.M.? I didn't notice anything like that."

"That's because all _**you're **_seeing is the back of your eyelids." Yolei joked, and the room gave birth to small giggles, allowing some of the heartache and hopelessness drift out through the open windows. T.K. turned to Davis to answer his question, but decided against it; they were just getting their spirits uplifted, they didn't need them to be taken down again. Plus, by the looks of Davis's face, it seemed as if he'd forgotten about it anyway. He quickly looked over at Ken, trying to catch him in the rare act of laughing. He was in luck in that category, at least. There the blue-haired boy was, laughing and smiling like a twelve-year-old kid should, not sitting locked in his room with no social life whatsoever to worry about (Except for maybe his soccer team…?) like he had before he joined the Digidestined team. Then T.K. noticed that he and Yolei were really hitting it off, both of them shooting jokes and teasing each other back and forth, and he thought he overheard Ken offering to teach Yolei to play 'Go Fish'.

"Really?! Thanks! Then I won't have to scream and wake up the whole neighborhood anymore!"

"Yeah. I'm surprised the neighbors don't call my house and ask, "'Hey, who was that crazy girl that kept me up until three in the morning last night?'" She laughed and playfully punched the boy on the shoulder, and he chuckled again. The onlooker inwardly sighed as he remembered how he and Kari used to tease and play like that, laughing for endless hours a day. Now he wondered if he would ever get that chance again. He prayed with all of his being that they would, at least for one last time, if nothing else…


	9. Disruption In the Heart

/\ /\

Clairice led the family to a room across from Kari's, a small conference-like room with several chairs and a tall plant in the corner, along with sound proof, tinted windows adorning the wall. The nurse gestured to three chairs in the middle of the room and the family sat down, while she occupied one of the two across from them, while she held in her hands quite a thick portfolio. They guessed it was Kari's, since no one else in their family had taken that many trips to the hospital in their lives. She stared at them for awhile, as if it was difficult for her to begin, but she started nonetheless.

"All right. The call I received in the waiting room was from Ryon Fransou, a highly respected French doctor; he is also the head doctor in your daughter's case (_**I don't know what**_ **_you'd call this sort of thing_**). He requested a meeting with you, so if it's all right, I'll call him in right now," She waited for their nods, and once they did, she pressed a button with a speaker beside it and spoke into it. "Dr. Fransou, you may come in now." Seconds after this, the entrance door east of them opened to reveal a mid-thirties brown-haired, brown-eyed man wearing an acknowledging, yet dead serious expression. He took the seat next to Clarice and gently took the portfolio from the nurse's hands.

"Now, you have been told that your daughter's disease is veraciously rare, and in that sense, quite dangerous?" He paused to hear their answer, and when they answered in confirmation, he went on. "That…attack of coughing you witnessed…it's…well, it's one of the first milestones to show that her condition is growing worse," Mrs. Kamiya whimpered and clutched her husband's hand strongly, who in turn squeezed back receptively, trying to cover up the fact that he was breaking up inside, if only to protect his wife. Next to them, Tai was gripping the armrests of his chair like they were his only lifeline to this world, and, in a way, they were, for he was trapped in a darkness within his own mind that he'd never known before. Dr. Fransou stared at their reactions, his face pained as much as theirs were, wishing with all his might that he didn't have to go on. Taking a deep breath, he did. "Because there have only been six cases of her disease known worldwide, there has not been much of a chance to analyze it in detail, meaning that there are no known ways of curing it. As in Kari's case, I want you to know that we will do everything possible to help her and stop the HDIRD from progressing any further than it has, but…you must understand that…the chances of her surviving are very slim to none. Even if she somehow does survive, the possibility of it coming back is very high indeed. I'm very sorry for having to give you this news. I wish I could take away the pain, all of it, but I can't. I'll have Clairice take you back to your party now." He lifted himself from the chair and walked back to the door, and was turning the doorknob to exit when Mrs. Kamiya called out,

"Wait!" The doctor turned back to her with imploring eyes. "How many of the other six have survived?" Suddenly the man's eyes shone with tears, and he unsteadily told them,

"None." Tears ran down all of the family members' faces, so much so that they didn't even hear the door click shut, and their visages were paintings of devastation at its peak. Clairice (awkwardly) comforted them as well as she could in the situation they were in, and as soon as they had calmed down (enough), she slowly led them back to their waiting friends.

"What's going on with Kari?! What did she say?!" T.K. demanded, but was hushed as Matt put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head as he frowned disapprovingly, and then turned worried eyes back to his best friend and his family. Izzy and T.K. and Matt's parents reassured the family of three, and T.K. nearly lost it from not knowing what was happening (in fact, none of them did). When they'd regained their composure enough to talk and look 'decent', he guiltily strode over and knelt in front of them, they barely peering up as he came forward. He sighed, defeated as to where to begin, what to say, as he folded, unfolded, and then refolded his hands. He looked into all three pairs of eyes, scanning them for some kind of answer that they weren't voicing, but only found more anguish than he'd ever seen in his twelve years, even more so than when they'd rescued Ken from his Digimon Emperor self and Wormmon had died. He gulped; from that anguish he feared the worst, but dared to ask the question nonetheless. "_**What**__** happened**_? Is she all right?"

"That's an ironic question, don't you think? If she were, do you think we'd come out of the meeting like this?" Tai laughed wryly, and T.K. frowned deeply in guilt. Tai looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, T.K. You deserve to know what's going on just as much as the rest of us. I'm just…all right, I'll tell you." It was then that Tai felt a caring hand on his shoulder, and turned his head to find his Mother gazing at him with despairing eyes.

"Let me tell him, okay? I know that you're hurting even more than we are," She gestured with her head to her husband and then stared back to her son. He nodded and smiled a bit before his Mother looked to T.K., and the rest of the room was silent to hear the news as well. "Well, according to the main doctor on Kari's case, the coughing attack we saw was one of the symptoms that occurs when a patient is worsening. H-He said that, uh…" Her voice grew quiet as she peered down at her lap and tears formed in her eyes once again. She glanced up at her husband when a firm hand enclosed over hers, and the slightly breaking man gazed at his wife lovingly as he rubbed her hand reassuringly.

"I'll tell him the rest. You just calm down, okay?" He asked gently, and she nodded as she laid her head on his strong shoulder. Now it was his turn to look at everyone in the room, all eyes glued to his face, all ears anxiously listening. "The French doctor, Mr. Fransou, told us that because there have been so few cases of Kari's disease around the world, not much is known about it. Therefore, there is no cure known to man or medicine, but they'll do all they can to help her. However," Everyone whose face had had even a little spark of hope flickered and died at that one word, no matter how small. "Her chances of living through this are devastatingly slim to none, and even if she does make it, the chances of it coming back are off the charts. As he was leaving, he also told us that out of the six that had HDIRD before Kari…none survived." The Digidestined team's eyes grew dark, and it appeared as though the room had been shrouded by an unheard darkness; the darkness they now felt in their hearts was leaking into the room with them, to eat them up if granted. Matt, Sora, T.K., and Joe noticed this, since they were the only ones who'd been through that ordeal before when they were younger. They sprang from their seats and rushed to their friends; Joe took on Cody, Yolei, Ken, and Davis; Sora got Tai, his parents, Mimi, and her own parents; T.K. handled Izzy, his parents, Joe's parents, Yolei's parents; Matt struggled with the rest of the parents, along with his own. Sora grabbed Tai's hand tightly, squeezing it with all her might, and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Tai? It-It's me, Sora. You have to listen to me, listen to my voice. I know the doctors said Kari will most likely not survive, but that doesn't mean you can just give up! You're her brother; you know her better than all of us. You know what she's capable of handling, you know how strong-willed she is. She risked her life to save you from pain; now **you've** got to hold on to **her** with your whole heart. She _**needs you**_, Tai. She loves you, and she needs you to believe in her, otherwise she can't make it. She needs your strength to course through her veins; she needs something to hold on to, Tai, and that something is you. You must believe she can get through this…" Tears began to fall from her eyes as she watched the boy she adored so much have that unwavering black hopelessness she'd had in her heart so long ago. She hung her head as the water droplets rolled down her chin and splattered to the floor, trying not to let anyone see her break down. "Or I won't be able to either." She finished quietly, and continued to cry while the others were having similar luck.

Just then, she felt a tender hand caressing her cheek, and lifted her teary face to peer into those determined, caring eyes she loved.

"T-Tai...?" She asked, unbelieving, as the boy had just been unresponsive a few seconds earlier. She wiped her eyes and then listened as he spoke.

"You can't lose me that easily. You should know that by now." He chuckled, and she lunged at him, holding onto him tightly as he rubbed her back and told her it would be okay. She was still blubbering into his shoulder when the darkness around the area they occupied dissipated, along with the branch that held Tai. That was when Sora remembered the others and jumped from her position, pulling Tai along to help in their 'project'.

"We have to wake them up, Tai! The hopelessness from their hearts, and yours, is what made the room bleak like this. You have to give them hope, since they no longer believe in it themselves. Talk about your sister." She urged, and then pushed him towards his parents. He quickly went over to them and held his Father's shoulder with one hand, and his Mother's hand with the other. He frowned at their blank faces, but began nonetheless.

"Mom, Dad, it's your son. Sora says that it's the darkness in your hearts that is making you this way, making all of you guys this way. Somehow she, T.K., Joe, and Matt weren't affected, and they know a lot about this thing. We'll talk about that later; right now, you just need to open your hearts and hear me, all right? I know I haven't exactly been the most hopeful person in the room, but I know my little sister like I'd know your smiles or laughs anywhere in the world. We're that close, we share that type of bond, and nothing, not even some silly illness can take me away from that. But you guys…she's _**your daughter**_; if you don't have hope that Kari can survive, then no one will! It's a chain reaction, Mom, Dad…if the people that are closest to her don't believe in her, in her abilities to fight, then there is no point to the fighting! If you don't trust her enough to let her fight and win or lose her won battles, then it was useless to even start fighting in the first place! You can't give up on her now…she would hate herself even more than she already does if she saw you like this. If there ever is a last time she'll see you, you want to look happy for her, don't you? Trust that she can make it through, and she might. If you don't, she won't even try to fight anymore." Almost instantly, the darkness from around their area disappeared, and he was met with hearty squeezes from both of his parents as they shed tears as well. After explaining the situation to his parents, they were soon enough able to rouse everyone from their depressed-hearted slumber. The questions began to fly at the five that had been awake through all of it (or most of it, in Tai's case), but then Mimi asked one that grabbed all of their attention.

"How did you guys know what this…darkness was?" Tai turned to them, discovering that he himself did not know the origin of their knowledge. Matt began his part of the story.


	10. The Heart's Stories of the Crests

"A long while after I went off on my own to find out who I was when we returned to the Digital World to stop the Dark Masters, Gabumon and I had found ourselves wandering through a seemingly never ending, dark cave. Then I started talking about not having a purpose anymore since T.K. could protect himself, and how I never let anyone else in after my parents separated, and I yelled at Gabumon, telling him to leave me alone. He told me that if that's really what I wanted, he'd do as I wished and go; I apologized and poured my heart out to him, telling him how much I hated being alone. He told me that he'd always be there, that I didn't have to be alone anymore, and it was then that I also realized that you guys really did care for me, that I was never really alone in the first place. I just made it that way… The next thing I new, a black darkness shifted from me up onto the cave wall, and I discovered that it was the darkness I'd been carrying in my heart since I first came to the Digital World. When the darkness disappeared, so did the cave, and that's when we ran into Joe." He nodded to the sixteen-year-old next to him, and the boy started his tale.

"I'd left Mimi to go find Matt, along with myself, and when we ran into each other after he got out of that cave, we ran into T.K. a while after that. He'd been traveling with Sora to find us, but he told us that she had been pulled into a dark hole that now rested on the ground. We climbed down into it and found Biyomon with her; she (Sora) was curled up with her head on her knees, and the same darkness that had swallowed Matt now had her. We tried to wake her up, to pull her from the position that she was in, but she held fast and mumbled some pretty strange things as she sat there. She kept saying that one phrase over and over, and we finally got through to her when she asked why we were the ones chosen to save both the Digital World and ours, and we answered that perhaps it was because we were the only ones who could. We broke through her shell, and the darkness cleared from both her and the cave, just as it had for Matt."

"Does that help?" They all nodded. Tai looked at the four beside him in wonder and hurt; if only he'd seen how much Matt was going through when they were younger, or how much doubt Sora had harbored within her. He would have helped them get through their problems, comforted them and been there, but he hadn't been. He hadn't been by their sides when they were lost in their own blackness… He was startled from his thoughts when a strong hand rested on his shoulder, and he turned his gaze to see his best friend sitting there beside him, smiling all the while.

"Hey, you're not thinking about us, are you?" He teased, and the boy looked at the floor again while he sighed and smiled slightly. He'd been 'discovered', it seemed. "Just because you didn't notice, doesn't mean you weren't there for us, Tai," The eldest Kamiya sibling looked at him strangely; it was as if the boy read his mind! Then again, he had always been easy to read in the first place. Still, he listened intently to the boy's words. "Every other time we needed you, you were there. This time, you weren't, and perhaps…it was for the best," Tai was about to ask how that could be, but Matt continued before he could utter a sound. "Think about it for a minute. If anyone else was around us at the time when we were all by ourselves, do you think we would have opened up like that? Opened our tightly barricaded hearts to the world as we did? No, and that's because we always put on a mask in front of our friends, and sometimes our parents, one that was happy and barely showed that we had problems at all; in truth, though, we were breaking inside, our hearts were not open to anyone or anything, not until we could be alone that day, when we could finally come to terms with our problems and face them head-on. That day, for me, was the most eye-opening of my entire life, and it probably was for Sora, too, am I right?" The girl grinned and replied,

"Yeah. I don't think I would have become who I am today had I not recognized my fears and erased them from my heart. I remember being so hopeless then, all by myself except for Biyomon, and yet at the same time I felt so determined…I was determined to get back and help you defeat Piedmon, Tai; that is, after finding the boys. I knew I couldn't leave you, Izzy, and Kari to fight alone like that, but I also couldn't let myself go on knowing of the chances we had of losing. I suppose I was selfish for letting my own doubts overtake me, for not getting myself out of that cave as quickly as I could to get the four of us back to you as soon as possible, but I couldn't find the strength inside of me to find the way out myself. Then these guys came along," She smiled and gestured to the boys beside her, and went on. "And they helped me realize that just because the lights go out and there's no on beside you to protect or hold your hand, or when a certain task is set upon you against your wishes, and there's nothing you can do about it, don't think about your uncertainties and worries; instead, you should think about the reason, and the reason for us to be saving both worlds was because there was no one else **in the world** with feelings so strong. What I mean is, out of all the kids in the world, we were the only ones with the feelings that our crests represented, the only ones whom those exact emotions shone through so strongly."

"Sincerity." Mimi and Yolei said.

"Reliability." Joe and Cody replied.

"Friendship." Matt and Davis spoke.

"Knowledge." Izzy and Cody chimed.

"Courage." Tai and Davis remarked.

"Love." Sora and Yolei countered.

"Hope." T.K. grinned.

"Light." Tai quietly added in for his little sister, and they all smiled at each other. The parents of both the new and old Chosen Digidestined Children (I combined them!) beamed at them admirably, seeing how much of a bond these special adolescents shared, simply over living creatures from another dimension that were made of ones and zeros (data). They'd seen first hand how their children had changed after their encounters with the Digimon; Cody, for example, had learned to speak up and be heard, rather than just listen and never be noticed; Dais had learned that to be brave isn't to be reckless. It merely means taking care of those around you, and putting them before yourself. Ken now understood the true meaning of friendship, and how friends help you instead of hurt you, that they mold you into the beautiful person that you will someday become. Izzy discovered that just because his parents adopted him without his knowing, it didn't mean he had to isolate himself to his computer to shield himself from the truth; since he and his parents had understood each other since he first went to the Digital World when he was ten, they'd hung out more often and were definitely much more involved in each other's lives than before the Digimon had come. The Digimon had changed all of their lives for the better, and they'd always be grateful, they knew.

In the midst of their proud gazes, however, Clairice rushed round the corner to stand in front of them all, sweating and eyes watery. Joe put up his hand to silence those whom had not noticed the girl and were still talking, and everyone immediately clamped up. Waiting for her to catch her breath, Joe inspected her appearance closer, and his eyes widened in realization at what must have happened to make her behave this way.

"I…I'm sorry," She started, still somewhat breathing hard. "Your sister…" She looked to Tai, and then shifted to his parents. "Your daughter…has gone into a coma-like state. If you wish to speak to her one last time, you must do so now."


	11. Confessions and Happenings

Instantaneously, everyone jumped from their chairs and Clairice took them back to Kari's room, 207, for their last confrontation with the Child of Light.

/ \ / \

Creeping as quietly as they could into the room, they all stood beside Kari's bed, except for her family, who sat in the chairs beside her. They watched her have to breathe with the aid of a respirator machine, and the IVs had been left to give her all the help they could, but her face was deathly pale all the same. T.K. could barely restrain himself from holding onto her with all his might and never let go; he couldn't do that…he could hardly stand seeing her like this, on the very brink of death, being forced to breathe by a mere machine, needles stuck into her body from every angle possible. He felt arms surround him, and raised his head to peer into two pairs of eyes that could only belong to his Mother and Father. Each had an arm across his chest, praying that they could make the girl their son loved so dearly well again, but regretted with their whole hearts that they could do nothing. They were abruptly whipped from their thoughts, though, when one of the machines that T.K. guessed was the Life Support began beeping loudly, and many held their hands over their ears until Clairice pressed a button, and it stopped.

She turned to them and they saw a look of melancholy on her face they'd never seen before on anyone, and she looked toward the ground with her hands folded in front of her.

"I, uh," She began, but was forced to interrupt herself as tears erupted from her volcanic eyes, and Joe handed her his handkerchief as he stood beside her. She gave a very slight smile in thanks, and then turned back to them. "My only sister was…diagnosed with the same illness that your Kari has…when she was only seven. She held on as long as she could, as she was a fighter, but died five days later. I…can understand what you're feeling right now. She was older than I by no more than two years, but it was still like I was watching my little sister die, because I had always pretended that I was…older than she, which I was, maturity speaking. She was always the innocent one; she would…pick flowers when she was supposed to be minding the sheep back at our farm in the country. She'd make me flower bracelets, and I'd wear them until they turned brown and simply fell from my wrist. The last time she made one for me was four days before she passed away, and it dropped from my arm…the exact moment she died. This probably isn't making you feel any better, but I just wanted…you to understand that…you aren't alone. I'm sorry if I'm only making it harder on you." She refined as tears cascaded down her face like never before, and Joe escorted her to sit in the chairs outside the room.

"I-I'm sorry for breaking down like that, and causing you and your friends even more hurt, Joe." She remarked as she gingerly wiped her eyes in hopes that they'd stop leaking long enough for her to speak normally again, without the stuttering or pausing.

"Please don't worry about it. I'm…truly sorry for what happened to your sister. Um…if you don't mind me asking…how old are you?" Jo asked curiously.

"Seventeen. I graduated college at a very young age, and the same went for medical school. I was looking for a place where I could put my medical skills to work, and when I noticed the lack of doctors and nurses in this place, I decided to join up here."

"You must be very intelligent to have don't that. You should be very proud of yourself. So I…suppose that your…sister was…one of the six that was infected with HDIRD, correct?" He inquired cautiously.

"Thank you for the compliment, and, yes…my sister was actually the fourth known with the disease."

"If your sister was the naïve, childlike one…then I'm guessing you were the-"

"Serious, self-conscious one?" She laughed a bit. "Yes, I was. My mother always used to tell me to 'lighten up' and 'go join your sister in the flower patch, or play tag or something!', but I was always too busy tending to the animals and making sure I was what my Dad expected, even at five and younger. I miss those days… If you could go back and change anything about your past, what would it be?" She asked and gave him an adventurous stare. He leaned his head back against the white-painted wall and grinned.

"I don't think I'd change anything, except for my being a frightened kid who didn't exactly think straight. I always thought I had to protect everyone in our group, considering I was the oldest by a year. I got into some trouble involving a mountain when I let those emotions run high. Why? What would you change?" He suddenly saw that saddened expression in her eyes again, and he wished he'd never asked.

"I would have spent a lot more time with my sister instead of trying to be Daddy's little angel all the time. She would have loved to play with me, I know it; the way she smiled at me told me how much she wanted me to join her as she romped in the meadows, but I continued to do whatever I could to please my Father instead, and it wasn't until I lost her that I realized what I'd done to her heart."

"What do you mean?"

"After she died, I didn't know what to do with myself, and it was then that I understood what my sister had been going through; she'd been _**lonely**_ and that's why she always asked me to come and play with her. She's hidden it from me because she didn't want to make me feel guilty, but really, all it did was make it worse after she'd already gone. I'd had the chance to play with her, but that chance was gone before I knew it. I'd simply refused to play around like that when I could be getting into a good college to help my Mom and Dad live better, but I was really missing out on both my childhood _**and **_my sister. Both had disappeared before I knew it, and there was no way to get them back. So, I decided that, since my sister died _**because**_ of something involving the medical field, that I would join it and try to help others in the type of situation my sister had been in. Unfortunately, I later learned that there was no cure for her disease after all, and there were so few cases of it around the world that not enough was known to even begin looking for a way to cure it. I detested hearing that I couldn't help the ones who'd contracted her illness, and therefore I became an all-around nurse, one that would help everyone, but also those with such wounds in their hearts, those such as my sister. I just wish I could go back…" Tears rolled down her face and onto her lap, and Joe put his arm around her and comforted her until those tears that should never had been shed in the first place were gone from her beautiful blue eyes.

"If I may ask," The girl looked into his eyes as he popped a question off the top of his head. "What was your sister's name?" She laughed wryly.

"It hasn't been heard around here since I was a little girl… Her name was Mika, and it actually meant 'innocent' in my Mother's Grandmother's old Norwegian baby names book. My name means 'evil', at least, that's what it should."

"No, it shouldn't," Joe whispered tenderly as he plucked a few strands of her bright blond hair and laid it flat on her head. "Anyone who says that is sicker than anyone that's ever set foot in this hospital. You are one of the most caring and devoted people I've ever been blessed to meet, and _**that **_is the truth." She grinned a bit wider and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Joe..." She whispered, and laid her head on his shoulder as she drifted off to sleep after an emotional, exhausting day with the guy of her dreams beside her.

/ \ / \

"I…I don't know what I'm supposed to say," Tai began as he held onto his sister's hand tightly, grasping it with all his might as he stared into her grayish face and tears poured from his eyes; Sora had her comforting hand on his shoulder, but she, along with everyone else, were crying like they never had before. Then again, none of them had had to experience something like this, except for Ken and his parents when his brother Sam had died. Tai sniffed. "My only sister is twelve and on her deathbed, and I can't think of a word to say? Kind of ironic, huh?" He gave her a fake smile he knew she couldn't see. "I've been able to talk my entire life, and it's only now that I can't utter a word. Fate can be so cruel at times… I wish you could awake to see this, to see all these people who care for you; you are what some of them, like me, cling to in order to survive, and without you, we know we'll be wrecks. I know you don't want us crying over you like we are, or fussing over you like this, but we really have no choice in the matter. You're a friend, daughter, and a sister to some of us here, and nothing can change the fact that we love you more than ourselves, and we worry about you excessively because of that. We don't want to lose you, Kari…we love you so much. I just wish you could hear me, hear all of us, right now." He wiped his eyes and regained his composure enough so that when he stood, he wouldn't drip salt water all over the floor, but just as he was about to release his sister from his choking grasp, he discovered that his fingers would not come apart from her hand. Startled, Tai sat back down and stared at her face, looking for even the slightest hint of rekindled fire in her painfully slow beating heart, but saw nothing as the seconds ticked on.

**_Well, actually, when I said that Mika meant 'innocent' in Norwegian, I wasn't serious. I just made that up. The same goes for Clairice as well, and no, her name does not mean 'evil'. I'm not sure what I'm going to make it mean, but something like what Joe said. We're almost done here, people, a few more chapters or so, and it will be over! I don't even want to think about; I LOVE writing this story. Thank you ever so much to those who have reviewed so far! You're all so kind, and it really means a lot that you take the time out of your long reading days to review a story a young person like myself has written._** Thanks guys! You ROCK!!

Also, please tell me what you think about the ClairiceXJoe thing! I'd really like your opinions, so please give me feedback! Thanks again:D ;D :) ;)


	12. Try Your Luck

Still, why would she hold on like this? After some more pondering, the fifteen-year-old turned to peer intensely at a certain blue-eyed, blond-haired boy that was being held by his family. "T.K.," The boy looked at him and Tai went forth. "See how she reacts to you." He gently slipped his hand from his sister's, and though T.K. was unsure, he was more than ready to take his place. He tentatively reached out his hand to take hers, but as soon as he had, a soft ringing sound filled his ears, and he suddenly heard the voice of a girl, crying and screaming, from all around him. He looked about to find himself still in the hospital room with his friends and family, but somehow, it seemed that time had stopped for a moment, as everyone had been in the same positions as before, and yet when he called out to them, they didn't move. Then he thought about it: maybe it was **_he_** who had ceased from moving, not them, and he was somehow caught in a place where time was caught and halted… Abruptly, the landscape changed, and he found himself in a star-filled place, a brown meadow filled with dying flowers and weeping willows; a horrifying place, to say the least. He shook himself from those thoughts as he heard another wail from the supposed girl, and decided to find her and help, if he could. It came again, and it struck him like a cold shower: that was Kari! Kari was the one who was screaming! But why? It didn't matter; he ran until he found her by a bridge over a black abyss, much like the one they'd had to cross in the Digital World a while back. He knelt down beside her shaking form, and he could tell from the tears showering down her face that she was in pain. He carefully reached out and stroked her cheek to wipe the tears away, and she immediately jumped on him, embracing him tighter than she ever had in her life. After recovering from the shock of her action, T.K. finally relaxed and clutched onto her the same way she held him.

"I-I don't want to die, T.K.!" That one sentence only made him hold her stronger, and he finally had to face the reality that his best friend and secret love…was going to be leaving him soon. He didn't want to think about it, but what else _**was there **_to think about? Honestly, what do you think about when the girl you love is dying before your eyes? He simply rubbed her back soothingly and let a few of his own pent up tears fall to the dead earth at heir feet. "I…I tried to fight, T.K., I did, but-!"

"Shh…" The boy whispered, and smiled affectionately as he gazed at the girl's tear streaked face. "I know you did. We all know; Tai, your parents, Yolei, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, that nurse Clairice, Dr. Fransou, Dr. Kayo…we all know you fought your hardest. You don't have to prove anything to us."

"Then why do I feel so alone right now, T.K.? Answer me that single question. I know you all love me, and I'm was using that as my strength before, along with my own, but right now, I don't feel like all the love in the world can save me. I really don't get it…even with you here, the best friend I could ever ask for, I still feel like the end is coming closer."

"Don't talk like that, okay?!" The boy shouted and stood, as the girl gasped and stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. This wasn't the first time T.K. had blown up this way; he'd done it every time some evil force appeared in the Digital World…but he had never blown up at **her**, not ever. His eyes grew wide then, and he collapsed to his knees in recognition of what he'd done. He closed his eyes, clenched his fists firmly, and then released them with a heavy sigh, looking up at the girl with shining, apologetic blue eyes staring back into her fiery amber. She crept over to him and pulled him to her, now telling him that it would be okay. "I'm sorry. I just-"

"I know." That was all that was said for a long time, and they just sat there in the grass together, consoling each other, chasing the other's fears away.

All of a sudden, the wind began to pick up around them, and T.K. alarmingly felt himself begin to be ripped from Kari's grasp. He called her name, and she called his, trying to run after him to keep him with her, but just as she was about to reach him, the ground surrounding her rose and fell in a million earthquakes at once, and she was thrown into the air. He watched in terror as she came crashing back down, landing on the hard, barren earth, unconscious, so it seemed, as she didn't move a millimeter more.

"Kari!!" He called frantically, but the wind still swept him up towards a black and navy blue hole in the sky, and soon, all he could hear was her subconscious mind mumbling weakly to him.

'_Stay with me…' _

/ \ / \

"Kari!!" He shouted, and breathed briskly as he looked around and found that he was back in is hospital room, sweating while everyone stared at him worriedly.

"Honey, are you all right?" His Mom asked, and he felt his Father's calloused hand on his shoulder, telling him that they were there, there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

"What happened?" His Mother asked again, and he finally regained his breath enough to speak.

"I…I was with all of you before I touched Kari's hand, but when I did, it was as if time had halted or something. All of you were the same way you looked before I touched her; then the setting changed, and I was in a dying meadow. I heard a girl yelling and sobbing, and when I heard it again, I knew it was Kari's voice. I ran until I found her by a bridge, and she and I talked for awhile. I'd never seen her so distraught before; she was so afraid to die, she told me, and she said how alone she felt then, how not all the love in the world could save her. I got so worried that I yelled at her, like Tai sometimes does when it involves Kari, but then I apologized and she told me it was all right. After awhile, the wind began blowing harder, pulling me from her, and she tried to get to me, to help me, but suddenly all of the earth near her split into many crevices, and she was thrown into the air. The last thing I saw was her falling back to the ground, unconscious and unmoving, and she unknowingly pleaded with me to stay with her one more time before I was sucked back here. I'm sorry, Tai. I just wish I knew what was happening to her right now." He frowned as he finally took a look at her, and his eyes went wide as he found that she was a smidgen from being death-white.

"So…my sister's really going to die." Tai stated tearfully, and everyone looked at him. He'd never been this dark before; they'd never heard him say outright that he was giving up. T.K. wiped his own eyes, and peered into his fiery eyes with hopeful blue ones.

"No. She won't if we keep believing in and loving her. She needs us now more than ever, Tai, and you have to know me well enough by now to see that I would _**never**_ walk out on her, not when she needs me. Even if she didn't need me here, I'd stay until she was up and going to school with her team and I again, and that's not only because I've known her for a good portion of my life; it's also because I love her everything that I am, and I would never abandon her. It's almost heartbreaking to know that her own brother would give up on her before her best friend."

"I'm not giving up! I'm simply…" He shouted, and then looked away, trying to think of a proper excuse to cover up the name he was being crowned with, but sighed as he came up with nothing. "I can't take this anymore." He huffed and hastily strode out of the room, T.K. stroking Kari's ashen hand in a means of comfort, both to himself and her.

/ \ / \

Tai walked quickly west down the hall of Kari's room, but was unexpectedly pinned powerfully against the wall.

"Tai!"

"What?!" He shouted, but didn't realize whom he was shouting at until he opened his eyes. It was Sora, and tears were shining in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to hide them.

"What do you mean, what?! Did you see the pain in T.K.'s eyes when you made it sound like there was no other option but for Kari to die? Did you notice the glares and strange glances you were getting from the others in there? Those looks were because we love you, Tai, and we've _**never**_ seen you act like that, ever! Do you know how hard this is for me, to have to go this far to knock some sense into you?! I can't comprehend why the boy I love would treat his friends, or me, or most importantly _**his dying sister **_the way you did, but I am hoping _**you **_can tell me, hot shot!" She finally lowered him to the floor, and he stared at her in incredulity, eyes wide. He looked down, guilt filling him as he eyed the tile flooring of the hospital as he spoke.

"I didn't mean to hurt any of you. I just couldn't handle the thought that my sister was probably going to die soon, and the entire time, I hadn't done anything to stop it. Then I realized that there wasn't anything I could have done in the first place, and so, in my grief, I took my anger out on T.K. and the rest of you with that one sentence. I'm so sorry, Sora. Please forgive me." He pleaded, as four pairs of lone tears fell onto said tile. She sighed roughly, but clenched him tightly while he calmed down.

"It's okay. I forgive you."

"What about the others?"

"You talk to them and see what they say." He pulled away the hug and stared at her, slightly afraid of what Matt would say for hurting his little brother the way he had, but the high school girl gave him a wink and a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't let him beat on you." He grinned gratefully and asked worriedly,

"So, are we cool?"

"Yeah, cool as the ice cream cone that's been in my freezer since I was in the first grade." They laughed and brought their fists together in a signature of friendship, heading back to the room to discover how Kari was doing and apologize to possibly be saved from being beat up by Matt.


	13. Nightmares Throughout Forgiveness

/ \ / \

When they stepped back into the room together, every head turned to them, and Tai began to speak.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean to hurt anyone with my words. I was just so angry that I couldn't do anything but watch as my sister grows closer to dying each minute, that I took it out on all of you. That should not have been done, and I'm sorry. I hope you guys can forgive me." He looked at them sadly as no one stepped forward, and when he saw Matt's dark, angry face glaring at him, his happiness went down another peg. The look on Matt's face changed almost instantly, and suddenly he was the old, grinning-like-an-already-famous-rock-star Matt they all knew and loved. He walked over to his fellow fifteen-year-old, and put an arm around his shoulders, as he was pulled to Matt's side in a friendly, guy-like gesture.

"What do you say, guys? Should we give 'Leader Boy' here another chance?" There were numerous loud shouts of confirmation, and Matt, Sora, and Tai all smiled at each other. 'Leader Boy' walked over to T.K., who was still at Kari's side and stroking her hand, the way he'd been when Tai had left. The boy didn't even turn to him; he simply kept staring at the girl in the hospital bed, his eyes glazed as if he wasn't there in the room with them. Tai sighed.

"T.K., I'm sorry for giving up on Kari. I don't know why, but…my grief and pain overcame me again, and I let it control me. I let it control me to the point that I would hurt you; I'm so sorry. I know I cut you deeply; I didn't mean to, really I didn't. I pray you'll forgive me, but if not, I don't blame you for anything." He waited for the boy to reply, but when he turned his golden head, he immediately regretted it. The boy's face was an absolute picture of a waterfall, tears trailing down by the hundreds; his eyes were a painting of purple waves of agony throughout that tortured sea of 'eye water', and, boy, how Tai wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

"How could you say that to me, Tai? You know how much I love her; you knew long before Matt did, and yet you say something that you know would kill me inside? Kari is the most important thing to me in the entire world, and for you to just dismiss her as gone already, or even going to be gone at all, completely tears me apart," He spoke through gritted teeth as he got directly in Tai's face; Matt had to pinion his arms behind his back, just in case his brother went berserk on them. The twelve-year-old sighed, and looked at the boy, the tearstains somehow vanished from his face as his eyes peered at the fifteen-year-old solemnly. "I know you almost lost her as a child, and I know how painful that was for you then, but you can't let your fears from that time drench over us and keep us from hoping either, all right? That's called being selfish, and if you love your sister, you'll stop that right now. If she is to survive at all, which I pray to God she will, with all of my heart and soul, then _**you **_must believe in her first and foremost. When she woke up earlier, she told us that she wanted you, all of us, not to blame ourselves for what's happening to her, and I stuck to that. But you keep thinking that this is your fault, and in reality, there was not a _**single thing **_you could have done; no matter how much I _**want **_to blame myself for what happened, I don't. I want to please her by doing as she says, because I know in my heart that if that truly is her last wish, I want to fulfill it to the best of my ability. And, being her loving big brother, I know you want to do that as well." By now, considering he'd resolved himself from almost charging Tai, Matt had released his brother from his grasp, and smiled at the boy's wisdom, wisdom that had never been shown its true potential until today. Tai looked down at his tightly clenched hand in which his Digivice rested, and stared at it, awareness finally washing over him; T.K. was right.

"You're right, T.K.," The goggle-giving teenager looked at the younger boy sadly. "I was wrong about everything. I _**was**_ blaming myself; even after I told you it wasn't **_your_** fault, that it couldn't have been, in my heart, I continued to feel that _**I **_should have known something was wrong, since she's my little sister, but…I didn't. I'm sorry, T.K." The blond-haired adolescent's shoulders drooped as his face softened from its serious look and turned to form a gentle one, one of great understanding and passion for his former leader. He stepped forward and embraced the boy forgivingly, and the boy sighed in relief as he hugged him as well.

"Do you understand now?" T.K. asked.

"Yes, I believe I do." Tai answered, and the boy pulled away and gave the high schooler a teasing, baffled look. The corners of Tai's mouth twitched as he watched, and then burst out laughing, and soon T.K. joined in, quickly followed by the other kids.

"Kari!?" All heads turned as Mrs. Kamiya called her daughter's name frantically, and both Tai and T.K. ran to her side. The twelve-year-old was sweating, if that was even physically possible in her present condition, and an agonized look overcame her precious face, seeming as if she was struggling to stifle a scream embedded within her. T.K. grabbed her hand hurriedly, a terrified expression adorning his face as he also sweated, praying this wasn't what he thought.

"Kari?! Can you hear me?! Please, what's wrong?!" He cried, but the girl didn't even seem to hear him; instead, she clutched both T.K. and her parents' hands with all her might, and suddenly let out the piercing scream she'd been barricading. Tears found their way to Yolei's eyes, and she shook her head slowly in disbelief as she watched her best friend writhe in that much pain.

"I don't think I can watch this!!" She said, slightly higher than a whisper, as she shook her head even more violently, twisting her head away from the scene, her hands almost fists as they pressed lightly on her cheeks. A hand fell on her shoulder, and she opened her tear-filled eyes to turn and see Ken standing beside her, and she looked at him questioningly.

"It'll be okay." He gave her the most convincing smile he could muster, and even if she could tell that it was fake, she still smiled and nodded, that dam of tears finally trailing. The Child of Kindness reached into his pocket and pulled out his handkerchief, handing it to the girl.

"I hate it when people cry, especially you, Yolei. You don't deserve to be crying." She stared at him blankly, unsure of what to do, but finally stretched out her arm and took it tentatively. She cleaned her glasses after wiping her face, and handed it back to him, lightly touching the hand that was still on her shoulder. She beamed at the boy.

"Thank you, Ken." He grinned back and answered,

"You're welcome." Their moment was broken, however, as Kari screamed again, and then another time, and Yolei's grip on Ken's hand increased; even so, he stayed by her side, making sure she was going to be able to handle the situation.

"I'm gonna tell Joe what's happening! I'll try to get the doctors in here, too!" Cody cried, and with that, he ran into the hall. "Joe! It's-!" He stopped short, however, as he saw the blond-haired nurse resting her head on the sixteen-year-old's shoulder. He quickly shoved the sight aside as he rushed in front of them. "Joe! Something's really wrong with Kari! I'll go get the doctors; wake up Clairice and see what you can find out!" He called as he started to run for the ward clerk's desk, Joe waking the girl beside him hastily.

"Dr. Kayo! Dr. Fransou!" (I REALLY wanted to put 'Dr. Gensai' in here! I've watched too much Rurouni Kenshin…) Cody shrieked as loudly as he could, considering his naturally small voice, and the doctors turned from their colleagues with slightly irritated faces.

"Cody! What is it? We have a very busy day today, you know. A lot of patients to tend to!"

"I know, but it's about Kari! Something's wrong! Come with me!"

"All right, hold on a moment." Dr. Fransou said, and pressed a button on the side of an intercom on the check-in desk. "All available doctors, please report immediately to room 207!" He then turned and nodded at the tiny fellow in front of him. "All the free doctors will be there as fast as possible. Right now, we must get to Kari." The boy nodded as well, and they high-tailed it to the girl's room, making it there in record time. They quickly entered the room and found Joe and Clairice looking Kari over with heavy expressions. "Have you found anything?" The two teenagers raised their heads to look at the elders of their field, and shook their heads.

"No. We can't find anything. I have no idea what this is about." Joe concluded and Clairice nodded in agreement to what he said.

"Forgive me, sir." Clairice muttered guiltily, and the man merely smiled gently at her.

"It's not your fault. No need to worry. Now, uh, if you could excuse us, we'd like to take a look at her ourselves." The adolescents swiftly moved out of the way, and inched against the wall to stay clear of the men until they were in open space. They sighed, but Joe looked at her Clairice, concerned, as she began rubbing her arm up and down in a nervous habit.

"I-I have a confession. I...I've never actually watched someone die before. When my sister was dying, my Father sent me out to the town to buy some firewood," The boy looked at her strangely, and she chuckled slightly. "We lived on a farm, but there were not many trees around for miles, except for one that my Father swore he'd never cut. He told me my Grandfather, his Dad, was buried under that very Oak. As I was saying, my Father sent me to purchase some firewood from town, so I went. Being seven, I was unaware of the circumstances that were all around me, and because of my ignorance and my hope of pleasing my Dad again, I didn't realize the real reason he'd wanted me to go. After I came home, my Mother was crying into my shoulder and my Father had to explain to me later that evening that I would be an only child from then on…my sister was gone; not on a visit to my uncle's farm or anything like that as I'd thought. She was never coming back because she had died while I'd been gone. Even here, people always thought I was too delicate to witness something as horrifying as death, so they would always give me some excuse to leave, and by the time I would be back, the suffering would be over and done with…" She bit her lip and fidgeted with her hands furiously before she finally felt someone take them strongly and keep them from moving whatsoever. Then, another hand lifted her chin and she came eye-to-eye with a wise-faced sixteen-year-old doctor-to-be.

"They should know that you're stronger than that. I've only known you for two days, and I can already tell that you're not as fragile as everyone thinks. You told us of your sister's death, and something like that takes a lot of courage, especially when that someone had a direct family member die of such a rare disease! That is really special to be strong like that, Clairice. Why are you thinking that Kari's going to die, anyway?"

"I…I don't know, Joe. It's just that with all the previous cases and the statistics running against her, plus what's happening right now," She paused to gesture to the doctors inspecting the ghostly, shrieking child under their stethoscopes, and then turned back to him. "It all just seems so hopeless. I'm sorry for behaving this way; please don't be angry."

"I couldn't be mad at you, silly. All I mean is, stick to what we've been saying all along: if we believe she can make it, she will. She needs us right now; we can't just turn our backs."

"I know." They smiled at one another, but then turned as they heard Mr. Kamiya frantically ask them what was going on with his daughter. Dr. Kayo and Dr. Fransou peered up at the man as they stood upright, tears threatening to plunge in a matter of seconds.

"She's dying."


	14. Keeping Sanity

"Well, yes, but…what exactly does that mean, doctor?" The Father of two asked, though he didn't truly want to hear the answer. The man took a deep breath and replied,

"It means it will occur very soon now, I'm afraid. There is nothing more we can do. We've done everything any hospital in the world could suggest; anything else she'll have to endure, and I'm afraid it would kill her almost instantly!"

"We're so sorry, Mr. Kamiya. We've done everything known to man, but…" Dr. Kayo began, but trailed as said man interrupted.

"Don't worry, we…understand. Thanks, to both of you, for everything you've done for our daughter…and us. We will never be able to repay you…for your kindness and perseverance..." Even as he said those things, however, visible tears met with his eyes, and the two men took that as a hint to leave them alone with their friends and son. He walked back over to where his wife's hand was still getting the life sucked out of it by their daughter, and encased her thin shoulders in his calloused hands. Her back started to shake, and Tai peered over at his Mother to find that tears were stream-lining down both of his parents' faces, but they were trying to keep it quiet so as not to make it uncomfortable for the rest of their group. To no avail, though, as Tai touched his Mom's shoulder lightly in a way to let her know that he was there, and she immediately flung herself on him, crying into his shoulder like the world was ending…which it was, in their minds… Clairice and Joe watched them from their seats in the back, and tears abruptly ran down the seventeen-year-old's face as well as she shook her head slowly in a certain kind of terror that no one but she seemed to recognize.

"What's wrong, Clairice? Is everything all right?" Joe asked fearfully as he stared at her, afraid that there was something she wasn't telling him. "Is it something you can talk about? Something about your sister?"

"It's happening all over again…!" She said nonchalantly, almost silently, as she stared blankly ahead, her eyes and mind clearly somewhere else. "My…my Mother. She also jumped on me like that when I cam home from the town that day. She…she'd never let me see her cry before, but right then she was so frightened. She just needed someone to hold onto, so she picked me. I didn't understand why she'd been crying; I'd figured we'd lost a baby or something. Then, when my Father told me what had happened to Mika that night, I'd been the same way as my Mother, hysterically crying into my Father's arms until I fell asleep. That same ritual continued on every night for two months, and then my Father said I'd have to stick it out. So I did; I focused on the farm even more and delved deeper into pleasing my Father…it was the only way I could push the thoughts of my sister to the back of my mind each day, because every time I was alone or had the chance to think for even a second, I would _**always **_be thinking of her. I soon realized that nothing I did would stop those thoughts, however, and so I went into a rebellious stage with my parents in my grief, and my relationship with them has been really strange ever since. They never call, write, or do anything to let me know that they love me anymore, or that they're alive or being well taken care of…I don't think they even care anymore… Then again, it is hard to blame them, since I deserve everything they're throwing at me."

"That's not true," She looked at him and he gently wiped the tears from her face with his shirtsleeve, and he smiled tenderly. "You didn't realize what you were doing then. You didn't know that you would be severing your relationship with them; by the time you were a teenager, I'll bet you'd forgotten a time when you hadn't acted that way. But, now that you see what you've done, and regret, perhaps you should tell them you're sorry."

"But it's been three years since I left, and we haven't spoken or written or…anything. How do you think they'll react if I just call unannounced or show up at their house? Heck, I don't even know if they live in the same house in which I grew up anymore! How do I find them?"

"Easy," Came a new voice, and Joe chuckled before turning to the owner, already knowing whom it was. "You would simply find a database of all the people in Japan, enter your parents' names, security codes, birth dates, and all other necessities, press enter, and there you have it: their location marked right on the map!" The girl beamed brightly, and she finished wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Thank you, Izzy."

"No problem! You've helped us plenty, so I figured, why not return the favor?" She and Joe laughed, and the doctor-to-be nodded his head in deep thanks to the fourteen-year-old computer genius before him. Izzy happily returned it.

"Do you mind if we do it once Kari is out of here, though? It isn't exactly the most homely place in the world to be searching all of Japan for your parents over the internet."

"Sure! I completely agree with you." The boy smiled at them both, and then took his seat next to his own (adoptive) parents again. Clairice leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, a small smile creeping to her lips.

"You have such nice friends, Joe. You're really lucky. I never had any friends growing up."

"They're your friends too, you know," She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at him, wearing a contorted expression. He laughed slightly, but went on. "They really like you, and enjoy your company. Sure, you have your faults, but that's like every other person in this group. My buddy Cody over there is really quiet and is too hard on himself sometimes; he's really bright, though, and can really take charge if the need arises. Yolei is really impulsive, and will sometimes jump into things without thinking; she's a really great mechanic, however. She can fix just about anything you give her. Matt is a bit too overprotective when it comes to T.K., at least, that's how he was when they were younger. Now, I think Matt knows that T.K. can handle himself, and he isn't as afraid to let him go down his own path. When Izzy was younger, he would spend his entire day working on his computer in his own world; there was a time when he ignored Mimi as he was trying to decipher some hieroglyphs, and she got lost in a maze after she stomped off. He was pretty harsh, though; he's gotten a lot better since that encounter, and he'll actually listen to someone when they talk to him while he's on that contraption of his! I'm just kidding. Now, Mimi was, and continues to be, a fashion queen that sometimes got too carried away in her clothes and herself, which at times got her into a tough situation; I remember when she was made queen of these really strange creatures, and when she started to boss them, and Tai and I, around like we were her servants, it made all of us almost stop being her friend. So, you see? We all have our faults, but we make a great team anyhow, and I believe in my heart that we always will, no matter what it takes. Would you like to be a part of this team, Clairice?" She hugged him and whispered,

"Yes!" She pulled away, and grinned at him. "It would be great to have friends for the first time."

"I'll talk to Tai later and see what he says, okay?" She nodded and smiled as if this was the last day on earth any type of grin, smile, or beam would be included on the chalkboard of existence. Suddenly, Kari began coughing again, but not nearly as hard as last time, when she was stable. Now it was more of a girl struggling simply to lift herself up enough to cough into her hand that was connected to an IV, which was then attached to a yellow bag up above her head that had 'TPN' inside, which meant 'Total Protein Nutrients'. That stuff was only for people in Kari's state, and it didn't seem to be helping much at all. Tears nearly streamed down T.K.'s face again as he handed Kari his handkerchief to make sure she didn't put too much stress on her body; he held her hand tightly in his, and prayed with all his heart that she could get through this, as he watched her eyes go all around the room, scanning everyone's face. When she got to him, she smiled just before falling into a deep sleep again, and her grip loosened a bit, the handkerchief held tightly in her other hand. He wiped his eyes and hung his head to ensure himself that no one would see the tears that fell next. He didn't know if he could keep his sanity in this place much longer; the life was being drained from Kari before his eyes, Tai had gotten into a fight with the entire team, he himself had almost brawled it out with Tai, and the doctors said there was nothing more they could do…everything around him was dying.

'It's like that area Kari was,' He thought, as he looked down at his hands blankly. 'So dark and lifeless…that's the essence of this place. I don't like it here; I don't like it at all. This hospital holds a bad memory for Tai too. This was the place Kari had been taken when she'd collapsed at the park, and while Tai had gone with the paramedics, their Mother and Father had come after. I remember Tai had told me about the time he and Izzy had gone to search for medicine when Kari had had a fever in the Digital World and he'd had flashbacks of that day every time they were in the Digimon Hospital. I recall that day scarcely well, too.' He sighed, and when he looked up at the Child of Light, he was utterly alarmed when he saw that she was barely breathing at all, and her grip on his hand had decreased to almost nothing; her face was on the borderline of death and severely close to death (not very good choices, huh?). He stood, his chair scraping sharply against the floor as he did so, and he turned hurriedly to Joe and Clairice.

"She nearly stopped breathing! Guys, get over here! I can barely feel her hand anymore!" The nurse and trainee rushed to his side, and he moved out of the way to let them through. After a few minutes of checking heartbeats, pulse, and reinstalling the oxygen tube into her throat, they turned to the Digidestined and families scattered round the room, tears trailing down their faces as never before, and everyone feared the worst.

"We're too late."

_**You know, you guys can give me suggestions for what happens next! Sometimes it's really hard for me to write because I get writer's block, so any suggestion would be a lot of help! Like today, for instance. This chapter was really hard to write, because, well, I did get writer's block, so...it was actually quite difficult. Thanks, peoples! See ya! Read and review please:D ;D :) ;)**_


	15. Hope's Confrontation

T.K. gulped and felt as if his own heart had stopped beating.

"What…what do you mean 'too late'?" He demanded, and Joe knelt in front of him, sighing in despair, the tears still flowing.

"It means…that she's not going to make it…T.K."

"No! No, she has to! You're…You're readings! They-They have to be wrong! Please tell me they're not real!" The boy yelled hysterically as he began to cry at full force; even his hands were shaking by now.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, you're not! If you were, you could do something!"

"T.K.!" He whirled around as he heard his Mother shout at him, and gave her a look of impatience and never-ending anger before storming out of the room. "T.K.?!" The woman began to follow, but her ex-husband held her back.

"Not now, Nancy."

"But he-"

"I know, I know. Just let him cool off." She sighed.

"Fine…" Cody, however, wasn't going to let that go. He silently crept form the room and ran down the hall after him.

"T.K.!" The boy didn't turn around, so the Child of both Knowledge and Reliability called his name even louder. "_**T.K.**_!" This time the twelve-year-old turned on his heel like a bull ready to charge, his eye glowering with more tears.

"What, Cody?! **What**?!" The boy stepped back and gulped; he'd never seen the Child of Hope get _**this angry**_ with anyone, not even LadyDevimon or the Digimon Emperor Ken! He kept on, though, staring right back at the boy.

"T.K., how could you yell at Joe like that, or stomp out on your Mother? Joe was only trying to help, and your Mom was simply going to tell you that what you were doing to one of your friends was wrong! They didn't deserve to be treated like that, and you know that just as well as I do. I know you're upset, and I'm not so happy about it either, and you have to know our friends and family are most definitely not either, but that doesn't mean you should scream at everyone!" The child sighed and led the taller boy over to the chairs in front of an empty room, and resumed the conversation. "We all know how much you love her, and we love her too, and I can understand why this is such a dire situation for you, really. You're not the only one who's had someone die before, you know-"

"And who says she's gonna die, huh?!" The blond jumped up from his seat and turned on him, his face clearly showing he was in angry denial.

"T.K., please sit down-"

"Not until you give me proof of what you're saying!"

"Proof of wh-"

"That Kari's going to die." He spoke harshly, and the wise boy sighed again, heavier this time, as he withdrew a paper from his pocket. "I snatched this off of Joe's clipboard on the end of Kari's bed just before I left," He turned the paper around, and there on the page were expert-made calculations that were most definitely in the sixteen-year-old's surprisingly clear handwriting.

"What are these?" He asked as he scanned the paper, not comprehending a single thing.

"They're calculations of blood flow, lung capacity, brain activity, heart failure, and other vital functions and parts of the body that are in grave danger inside Kari while she's in this condition, " Even if he couldn't see the page because it was facing away from him, Cody pointed to what he'd been intending; he'd memorized it in his head as T.K. had yelled at Joe in the room (he'd been curious to know what was on them and how they could be so sure on their evaluation). T.K. gave him a perturbed look, and Cody took that as a 'keep going'. "If one of these organs dies, all of them die, and that means Kari's gone as well. These calculations are made to find out which of them is going to give out first, but by the looks of it, it seems that all of them are in the exact same condition. It's impossible to differentiate between these percentages, and so all we can do is wait and see what happens…" He looked up from his lap and stared into his friend's eyes. "Look, T.K…we're DNA Digivolution partners; I can tell when you're upset or scared or lonely better than anyone else on the team, just as Kari and Yolei, and Davis and Ken can. I can feel that you're exasperated, completely afraid, but you don't want to allow anyone else in one your innermost thoughts and feelings. I can completely understand that, but you have to understand that…" He trailed, and decided to take a safer route. "Do you remember what Joe, Matt, and Sora told all of us earlier? How your brother didn't let anyone else in after your parents divorced, and how much that truly ate at his soul on the inside?"

"Yeah…I do. I was there when it happened in the Digital World remember? Well, for Sora's, anyway." The Child of Knowledge nodded carefully.

"Yes, and that's why you should pay attention to _**Matt's**_ story a bit more," The blue-eyed adolescent looked at him with questioning eyes. "What I'm saying is, Matt wasn't letting anyone truly know him on the inside because he was afraid…and that's exactly what you're doing as we speak."

"What?!"

"I said, let me help you, T.K.! Could you just _**listen**_, for once?!" The normally reserved, quiet boy gasped as he finished, shocking himself as well as the boy next to him at his unusually loud outburst, and he was sure he heard Yolei ask if the others had heard what she had. The boy grimaced at the floor of the death trap they were caught inside, and clenched his fists tightly as he realized what he'd done. The Chosen Child of Hope simply stared at the boy who'd just yelled at him.

'Could he possibly be right? Have I just failed to see it all this time, just like my brother did? Am I following in his footsteps? But, I…' His eyes widened. 'I get it now. I am like my brother...I haven't let anyone in except Tai, and that was only for a minute or so; other than that…' "I've had my heart closed off to everyone since the beginning...haven't I?" The fatherless child looked up at him, and reluctantly nodded his head once. "So…I am turning out like Matt. I just hope I don't become a rock star. He knows how tone deaf I am." His eyes welled with tears and he smiled a little, just before he collapsed to his knees in front of the tyke, and Cody looked at him, stunned that the boy would do something such as that. It didn't matter then, though, because he was immediately by the blonde's side, hugging him tightly like he'd wished his own Father to do so many times before.

"I'm sorry for yelling, T.K. I don't know why I did it; it was almost as if someone else was saying the words through me. You know I'd never hurt you on purpose…I guess, you were just getting on my nerves somehow." The boy barely looked up at him, his face a massive iceberg that had just been melted by the hot sun's rays, and he smiled slightly. Cody was suddenly taken by surprise again when T.K. embraced him strongly, but quickly returned it, as he understood how much the boy yearned for someone to lean on. "It's okay…It's okay. Go ahead and cry as long as you need. I'll be right here with you, I promise." The boy made a grunt, and Cody recognized it as a gesture of uncertainty. "I don't mind; I'm glad to help. Please don't worry." He felt the boy nod, and he smiled; perhaps his 'method' _**was**_ working. He then heard the Takashi boy begin to whisper, and he leaned his head down farther to hear.

"I'm sorry for being so difficult, Cody. I never meant what I said, I just…I didn't know how long I was going to be able to handle this place for much longer anyway, and I guess…I just couldn't take it anymore, and that's why I flipped out on Joe. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now…he'll probably hate me for the way I acted, not to mention my parents..."

"Just do what Tai did for you," T.K. finally lifted his head as Cody moved, and the boy stared at the wise child's face. "He apologized to those he made angry and hurt, so you should do the same. I know Joe will forgive you; he's just that nice of a guy." Cody smiled at him, and the seventh grader grinned as a small ray of hope filled a small portion of his heart as he nodded. Cody stood, and then helped T.K. to his feet, leading the nervous boy down the corridor with a comforting hand on his back. "Don't be afraid, I'll be right next to you. If he gets mad, which I highly doubt, I'll take that chance to just step in and explain, okay?" The original, and at the same time, new Digidestined, nodded silently, as was expected. "I've got your back, T.K. It'll work out. You'll see." Even with the positive boy at his side, however, the more experienced of the team other than Kari was still doubtful that the high school student would 'forgive and forget' so easily.

_**Pardon this being a short chapter who this as such. I apologize. As I said last chapter, any suggestions, go ahead and throw them:D ;D :) ;)**_


	16. Plunge Into Darkness

/ \ / \

No one even noticed when they entered the room again, considering they were so quiet, but it was then that Yolei spotted them out of the corner of her eye. She turned to them and grinned.

"Cody!" Now the rest of the team turned and smiled at the two boys, though not nearly as much came from the Takashi-Ishida family. The boys smiled back, and made their way to the sixteen-year-old who was frowning hard at the twelve-year-old in the hospital gown, his brow furrowed in deep anxiety.

"Joe, I…" He started, and the boy looked at him, a small smile on his face. T.K. looked at the floor, embarrassed and guilty at the same time. "I'm sorry…for the way I yelled at you. You have to know that I never meant a single thing. I just couldn't control myself anymore and lost it; I wanted to get out of this place so badly that I could stand it. I'm just really scared and upset about Kari right now, and I let my emotions get the best of me. I'm so sorry for everything; you didn't deserve any bit of it, and yet I blamed you for her getting so much worse. You would probably want this back, as long as we're giving things that rightfully belong to others," He pulled the statistics paper the high schooler had recorded from his pocket and handed it to him, smiling slightly as he took it.

"I'd been wondering where this went. Thanks, T.K.," Joe smiled whole-heartedly at the young man before him, and decided to give him an answer to the issue he was pressing. "I understand what you were feeling, so it's perfectly all right. You were worried about the girl you love, and I respect that completely. If anything happened to…well, someone of the same status in my heart, I think I would react identical to you. Don't worry, I forgive you," Somehow, T.K. didn't exactly feel convinced. That is, until the elder by four years set his hand on top of his hair where his hat was missing. "I mean it. You don't have to worry about it anymore. All I want you to worry about is-" He was stopped, however, when Kari began clutching her blanket as she coughed and struggled to get air into her lungs, much weaker now than she had been.

"T-," She halted herself as she struggled to breathe. "T….K…." The boy was at her side in an instant; he gripped her hand firmly, yet gently, and he asked,

"Y-Yeah, Kari?" She took in a deep breath and whimpered as her face contorted and she lifted herself toward the ceiling. When she let herself fall back on the bed again, she breathed heavily and everyone could see that there were tears in her eyes; the poor girl was in excruciating pain, and it killed T.K. to see her like that.

"I…I'm…sorry…for put…-ting you…through…this. I…n-never…meant for…you to…get invol…-ved. I'm…so…sorry." The boy shook his head as tears filled his eyes, and he squeezed her hand tenderly.

"No, no, please don't say that. I told you that you weren't being selfish at all, so don't worry. We just want you to get better is all. It's all right." He was trying to be strong for her, but he knew his voice was giving his true feelings away. He couldn't hide it, no matter how hard he tried; he was crying, and he knew in his heart that Kari knew as well. "I-I'm sorry I'm crying…I know I shouldn't be." She squeezed his hand this time, and closed her eyes as she smiled and spoke quietly.

"Don't…worry…about it…too much. You…know I…won't…hold it…against…you. Ha, ha." She laughed weakly and said, "I'll…be…okay…" The rest of her breath left her in a hurry, and a machine next to her beeped again, louder this time, and Clairice and Joe jumped to inspect her. She bit her lip to hold in a scream of pain, and grasped T.K.'s hand tighter while he stared at her hard.

"Ahh!" She cried, and she gripped her brother's hand on the other side of the bed as well; he'd run over as soon as the beeping had begun, to help T.K. soothe her the best way he knew how. "Mmmmm! Help!!" She yelled, but there was nothing anyone could do but watch as she endured so much pain; T.K.'s eyes began to water as he listened to her heart-breaking screams, and he turned his head away so she wouldn't see the droplets of water fall from his eye. They fell on her flannel baby-blue bedcovers, and he winced as she tightened her grip on both the boys' hands. "_Make_…**it**…_**stop**_!! _**Please**_…!!" She pleaded in utter agony breathlessly, and she began to hyperventilate from her panic and fear. Clairice gave her an oxygen mask and held it to her face, insistent that she calm down.

"Kari, please, calm yourself! You'll only make the pain worse if you don't! Please listen and do as I instruct!" The farmer girl was in near tears as she watched the girl scream and only make it all the more easy for the Angel of Death to come upon her. The agonized child forced herself to calm down and try to breathe normally, despite the river of tears that was cascading down her face; Clairice finally hung the oxygen mask back up as she took deep breaths to get over what she had just seen, wondering if her sister had gone through the same thing, wondering why couldn't have heard it all the way to town back then. The way this preteen was hollering, it made it seem like she could be heard around the world and back again. Joe stared at her with imploring eyes, and she turned to him, giving him a fake 'I'm fine' look.

"No, you're not fine. You're worried about her and you're also thinking about your sister."

"How do you do that?" He smiled very slightly, but could not bring himself to do so any more in their present situation.

"I have an older brother who always knew what I was thinking when I was younger, and still does, so I guess I learned his tricks after awhile." He chuckled, and Clairice smiled, cheered up a ways.

"Well, as you can probably tell, you're right. I was just thinking about, since I wasn't there when Mika…passed on, if she had to go through the same pain, and…I wonder why I wouldn't have been able to hear her. When Kari screams, it seems like it would have been impossible **not** to hear. It just feels like Mika is calling out through this girl, and it's…I have to admit that it's scaring me a little." She smiled up at him sheepishly, and a hint of a blush graced her cheeks.

"You can go get something from the cafeteria to get yourself calm again, if you to. I'm capable of staying here and looking after her." He gave her a worried look, but she shook her head.

"No, no, I…have to stay here. I'll…I'll be all right; I just need a minute to get my head straight again, that's all. I'll be fine, Joe." He continued to frown at her, but sighed and grinned faintly.

"Okay, I trust you. But you have to know that your sister would only want you to be happy, and if she is calling out to you through Kari, then I'm sure she's saying that she forgives you. For now, just to be on the safe side, be sure to tell me the moment you feel like you won't be able to handle this anymore, all right? I'll be right here if you need me, so just call." She grinned wider now, and replied enthusiastically,

"I will. I promise." He smiled in relief, knowing in his heart that he'd helped the girl greatly, thus making her feel more protected, more sure of herself in the way that these new friends truly did care about her.

Kari breathed deeply, and lucky for Tai and T.K., her death grip had loosened immensely; she wished she could look into their eyes and tell them things she'd always needed to say right before she left this world, but she didn't feel she could after that last pain surge. She didn't have much strength left as it was, and that attack had made her devastatingly weaker. She didn't even have the strength to open her eyes now. More tears escaped her as she thought about how she couldn't even say goodbye to them, couldn't tell her parents and brother how much she loved them, tell them not to cry and be happy for her, tell them…to… She stopped thinking as her vision went black.


	17. Life Gives and Takes

/ \ / \

"She's flat-lined!"

"What?!" T.K.'s head shot in Joe's direction, and immediately looked to Kari, reaching up to feel for her heartbeat. None. He tried to conceal his grief as he went on to check for a pulse on both her wrist and neck, but also was stunned into shock as he again found nothing. His eyes filled with tears as he called out her name. "Kari! Kari, can you hear me?! Oh no…no, no, no, this can't happen to her! Can't you do anything?! Do that Defibrillator thing they have in America?!" He looked to the nurse and doctor-in-training, and they both averted their gazes, signaling to the boy that there was nothing they could do. He leaned his now tear-streaming head down on her bed as he still held her hand tightly and cried himself to a wreck, his shoulders wracked with his sobs. Matt and Cody did their best to comfort him, while Tai, in a similar state, had his vision and mind blurred with more tears than he'd thought possible to have. Sora hugged him and told him that they'd get through this, but she herself cried, and on the inside, she wondered if her own words could even be true.

'I don't know if we really can get through this. Tai and T.K. are total messes, along with Tai's Mom and Dad, and the rest of the team…oh, man, it's going to take a lot for us just to _**stay **_a team after this! I wonder if the Digidestined will make it…?' She buried her head into Tai's and cried, but only a little, trying to be strong for this normally tough and unfazed boy who had such a vibrant love for life…and soccer, of course.

"You can cry if you want, Sora." She lifted her head and wiped her eyes quickly as she stared at him with fake questioning eyes.

"What do you mean? I'm fine." He smiled slightly and shook his head.

"No, you're not. You know I know you much better than that, and I can tell when you're upset. You are my best friend, after all." She sniffed as she wiped her eye while smiling softly.

"When we were younger you wouldn't have been able to tell anything at all. As Joe said once, you did have the "'attention span of a gnat.'" They chuckled half-heartedly, and Sora stared at him apologetically.

"I-I'm sorry, Tai," He looked at her strangely.

"For what?"

"For being doubtful this whole time! I was wondering if we were going to make it through this just now, and I find myself thinking if we're even going to stay a team after this, and I just-"

"Shh…" Tai soothed and affectionately wiped away the tears that were soaring down her face. "You have to know we'll stay a team, no matter what happens. And I'll always be here for you too, whether I'm…grieving over my sister, or trying to catch a train or flight to another country, I'll always be here, so you don't have a thing to worry about…okay?" She nodded as she blushed at his soft touch on her face, and she quickly leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips before anyone could see what was happening. Tai stared at her, bewildered that she'd done that, and was about to find his voice again when they all heard T.K. whispering to the dead girl quietly.

"Kari…Please wake up. You can't leave us like this. Do you know what happened to me while you were in the Dark Ocean for the first time? I completely cracked down; I lost it. I thought I'd lost you for good and that it was all my fault. Then, when you called us for help and Patamon, Gatomon and I were teleported to that place as well and you came running, I was so relieved that you were all right. When those traitors who turned out to be Dark Digimon had you, I was afraid they'd really take you away from me, and I knew I couldn't let that happen. After we got back to the real world, I remember being so happy that I was able to save you in time, and that was actually one of the first times I remembered the day you and I were almost captured by Piedmon…remember? That was the first time Angemon Digivolved to MagnaAngemon…" He looked up at the ceiling wistfully. Matt watched his little brother remember deeply about past events.

'He used to love telling this story…now it's so empty… Poor kid, he really is heartbroken…'

"That was one of the proudest days of my life. I'd had faith in him all along, and so did you, but no one else. Our encouragement and belief finally paid off, huh?" He peered down at her with closed eyes, and it did not go unnoticed by single person in the room that his face was red as he tried desperately to keep his tears inside. Mr. Takashi left his crying wife in the care of Mimi, and then went over to do his youngest son a favor. He knelt beside him, and the boy looked up as he put a stern, yet loving hand on his shoulder; the boy's mood changed instantaneously. He leaped onto his Father and finally broke the seal of his emotions, crying harder than anyone else in the room. His Father held him firmly, letting a few tears fall for this girl he didn't even know.

"Oh my God…!" Yolei whispered as she was finally hit with the full force of what had happened. She turned her head away as tears ran down her face and she hugged herself, needing the comfort of something, anything right now. A boy appeared at her side again, and she knew that it was Ken. She turned from the scene and went straight into his open arms, and they wrapped around her in a comfort she'd never known. She sighed and finally allowed herself to let the walls come down completely. Both of their parents watched on, and the Mothers smiled understandingly at each other, while the husbands sent nervous grins across the room, talking in their 'overprotective Father' code. Tai and Sora's parents did the same, having seen the interaction between the two, even when no one else had. When T.K. had finally eased himself from his need of comfort from his Father, he turned back to Kari and strongly took her hand again. His Father never moved; he simply stayed there beside his traumatized son and stared at this girl he'd fallen for.

"Kari…Kari, please…please wake up. Can't you see that we're wrecks with you not here? You are the Chosen Child of Light for a _**reason**_, and I know that reason wasn't, couldn't have been, for you to die at the young age of twelve! Genai wouldn't have chosen you as the Eighth Child if he had known that would happen; I know he wouldn't! Please…you have to wake up! I'm losing my sanity in this place, and you know you're the only one who can bring me down to earth again! We all believe in you, and…I can't lose you just yet. Please come back to us. I'd give anything to get you back here. If anyone up there is listening, please help us." He said the last part in monotone as he stared despairingly at the bed sheets on which she was laid, and let out a kept-in sigh as nothing came. A few more tears dripped from his eyes, and he hung his head as nothing happened.

'You're not supposed to expect things to happen immediately, you know.' A laughing voice called out, and he snapped his head up to shout back,

"Yeah, well, who are you…to…" He stopped short, and his eyes widened as he thought for a moment that he was in the same field from before, only…the field was gone, and he was standing on a bridge above a clear, gently-flowing river. "Wait! I know that voice! Kari?!" He called her louder than he'd ever yelled in his life, and when he heard her melodic laugh behind him, he turned. "K…Kari…?" He asked as he saw the face of the young girl, but instead of her usual outfit, she wore a flowing white silk dress with thin brown sandals; beautiful white wings sprouted from her back, and a golden halo tinted with a pearl-like tinge rested just above her head. She smiled and nodded. She ran the few steps it was to reach him, and hugged him stronger than ever before, as he did the same, crying tears of joy at seeing each other again.

"Where are we?" He asked as he pulled away. She took her head from his shoulder, and gazed at her surroundings with an emotion T.K. had never seen in her eyes, something he couldn't decipher.

"I don't know."


	18. Remembrance of a Time

"What do you mean?"

"Just as I said, T.K. I…don't know where we are. After I…you know, I…came here. I'm not sure what, or where, this place is." She said as she gestured to the blank landscape around her, and then looked back to him. He tilted his head in disappointment, but they both jumped as the silence was interrupted.

"Isn't it obvious?" They heard what sounded like an old man laugh, and upon recognizing it, called out in happiness and amazement simultaneously,

"Gennai!!" The elderly man appeared before them in his usual blue-robed attire, and he grinned at them in that special way of his.

"Why, hello, kids! Looks like you've gotten yourselves into a bit of a predicament, eh?" He chuckled as they gave him flabbergasted looks.

"Gennai, could you please tell us where we are? I…don't like it here." She looked up at the bleak world above her and moved closer to T.K.

"Of course! The answer is the solution to this riddle: I am a place between Heaven, Earth, Hell, and Limbo. I am also where eight children saved the world with the help of Digimon. Now, what 'where' am I?" They gasped in amazement as they stared at each other and then turned back to him.

"We're in the Digital World?!" He laughed at their expressions.

"Where else do you think you'd be? Honestly, do you think I'd let the Eighth Digidestined die and go to wait in Limbo until her fate is chosen? Be serious, really." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and wriggled his mustache playfully, and they laughed.

"So, how did I get here? And these clothes; I thought only people who actually _**entered **_Heaven wore these." Kari speculated, and motioned towards the clothing and accessories that adorned her petite figure.

"As soon as your soul was released from your body, I brought you here. As for your clothes, you were already wearing them when I got to you. That's something to be very proud of indeed, my dear." She blushed and nodded her thanks and acknowledgment.

"I…I see. So…what am I doing here anyway? Am I able…" She gasped in a perhaps-realization. "Can I go back, Gennai?" T.K., understanding her wave of thinking, watched the man hopefully.

"I'm afraid I'm not completely sure on that. You'll have to answer that one yourselves." They looked at each other again, and then T.K. asked him,

"What are you saying exactly?"

"You have to figure it out on your own, of course! You didn't think it would be that simple, did you? For Kari to come back, each of you must give away something that is precious to you."

"But that doesn't-" Suddenly, T.K. peered down as he felt something tugging at his legs, and saw the darkness that had taken his brother, Sora, and the rest of them under its spell from both earlier that day and four years ago. It pulled him down halfway into the blackness, and no matter how hard Gennai struggled to make the darkness disappear or how hard Kari tried to pull his arm out of its socket (just kidding) while trying to help him, he soon found himself falling through the desolate air, getting one last look at her angelic face as she screamed his name.

/ \ / \

He came to (I meant to write that) the same as last time he'd gone to that 'in between' place: breathing heavily, looking around the room to see the Digidestined staring at him with worried eyes.

"Are you all right, T.K.?" Mimi looked at him cautiously, a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he sighed in relief to be back with his friends. He smiled up at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying." Her face softened to a reassured smile, and she nodded.

"Did you see Kari again?" Tai asked, and the boy looked at him, a small, happy grin on his face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. You don't have to worry, though. She's all right," Everyone's eyes widened, but Tai nodded for him to keep going. "She was an angel, Tai; a beautiful, beautiful angel. Gennai brought her to the Digital World as soon as her spirit left her living form, and he said…he said that she could come back to us. But…for her to do that, both of us have to give up something precious to us. We don't know what that means, though." He sighed, frustrated and looking at the floor, but then turned his eyes back up to Tai. The high schooler stared him in the eyes as his own shined with glee, the glee that his sister was safe in their home-away-from-home.

"Do you know her exact location?" The boy shook his head.

"No, I don't. It was a place I'd never seen before; I'm sure it was some special place, perhaps one of Gennai's own creation. I'm not sure." Tai nodded understandingly, and then went on to tackle slightly more important matters.

"Okay, now all we need to do is find out what this special thing is that you have to give away. The question is, how do we do that?"

"I think I may have an idea!" Izzy spoke out, and unearthed his laptop from his backpack. Setting it on his legs, he began typing furiously, and everyone gathered around the small chair. When he stopped typing, he turned to the others a bit to see expectant faces, and he began. "Do you recall the day we found VenomMyotismon and Gennai sent us that Prophecy?" He paused to make sure he received nods from everyone, except the new Digidestined, since they had not been Chosen Children back then. "Well, the Prophecy said that when arrows shot from the angel Digimon, Angemon and Angewomon, into Tai and Matt, a miracle would happen. That worked, didn't it?"

"Sure did!" Matt cried enthusiastically, and Izzy continued.

"That time the precious thing they had to risk was their brothers. So, maybe, they have to risk something else, something even more special to them." Tai nodded as he thought the idea over.

"Thanks, Izzy. We can always count on you." He smiled at the boy in deep appreciation, and the fourteen-year-old grinned.

"I'm glad to be of help, Tai."

"But what could be more important than us?" The rock star of the group asked, and everyone stared at him. T.K. laughed heartily, and hugged his brother tightly.

"No one could replace you, silly." Matt embraced him as well and smiled.

"Thanks, bro." Their parents watched on wistfully.

"I'm so happy that their relationship wasn't destroyed completely when we separated." Ms. Takashi sighed.

"Yeah, me too. I'm just glad they were able to get things straightened out between them while they were in the Digital World four years ago. It's thanks to that place, their Digimon, and all of these people around us that they are who they are now: a true family. That's all I care about." Mr. Ishida said, and his wife smiled at him.

"I think we've finally grown up, John." (_**I made up his name since I don't know his real one.**_) She chuckled, and he blushed.

"Yes, well…I learn as I go." He chuckled as well, and the divorced parents beamed; they had finally come to an understanding.


	19. Finding An Answer

"Let's see…the only things perhaps more important to us than our brothers could be our parents…the rest of the Digidestined…our Digimon, and…" He pause and snapped his fingers in excitement, a triumphant smile on his face. "I think I've got it!"

"Really? That was fast. Well, what is it?" Izzy inquired. T.K. turned to him.

"Our crests!" Everyone gave him odd glances. "Don't you see? Our crests are the closest things to us because they represent the strongest traits we've been blessed to have! So…in order to bring Kari back…she and I have to give up our crests." He smiled sadly at the thought of giving up one of his most prized possessions from his first trip to the Digital World, but he would do anything to get Kari back, no matter what it took.

"Oh, I see it now! That's great, T.K.!"

"Thanks, Cody. Now the question is, how do we do what Gennai instructed?"

"Good question. I'll email him and see if he can tell us anything." Izzy said, and thus began typing away again.

"But, Izzy, he said we have to do this on our own. He made it sound like he either wouldn't, or couldn't, help us."

"Why wouldn't he help?" The computer genius peeked out from behind his laptop.

"I don't have the faintest idea. Maybe he wants to test us?"

"But he knows how strong we are. I don't think he would test us like this. I mean, come on. This is a life and death situation here!" Sora pointed out, and everyone nodded.

"Perhaps…perhaps he **can't **help us because he doesn't want to risk that secret place; it is the only place Kari can stay safe, after all. Maybe he just wants to be careful. He wants to help Kari just as much as we all do, I know it."

"You're probably right, T.K. Since when are so good with puzzles like this?" Mimi asked, and the boy turned red.

"Uh…well, I…." He tried to make the words form at his lips, but couldn't bring himself to do so, even when he knew the answer. He was just too embarrassed.

"It's a guy thing. You _**girls**_ wouldn't understand." Matt put forth, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders and smirked at the girls mockingly. They huffed, and then the room filled with laughter. T.K. looked up at the fifteen-year-old and grinned, silently thanking him for the save. He nodded.

"No need for thanks. I know you're only so clever right now because it's Kari that's at stake. Don't worry, buddy; I've got your back."

"Thanks." The twelve-year-old smiled admiringly at his brother, and then sighed as he looked at the girl again. He crept over and took his seat beside her, caressing her hand sweetly to let her know he was right there with her. "I'll find a way, Kari. I promise you I will. I need you here with me, and the others do too. They can't afford for me to let you down right now, and neither can I. I couldn't live with myself if I let you stay this way." He moved a strand of dark brown hair from her face, and gently put it behind her

ear, looking at the place on her chest where her crest would be located as it hung in its tag. "I can do it. I know I can. I'm not going to give up now, not ever. Not when it's you on the line." Abruptly, the room filled with a burst of brilliant light, and the boy screamed in shock as he realized it had come from his crest. He looked down as the necklace began to levitate from his chest, and he watched as his Crest of Hope removed itself from its tag. He hurriedly peered to see Kari's doing the same, and the entire room was stunned into silence at what was heard next.

"_You're doing it, T.K.!" _A young voice called out excitedly, and tears of amazement, disbelief, and joy plummeted from the faces in the room.

"Look, you guys!" Yolei commanded as she pointed upward; everyone peered in the intended direction and shrieked in more bliss than any known to man. Above them, replacing the ceiling was a golden place of flowing clouds, and hovering in the middle of it all was Kari, her dress stained gold from the sunbeams, her skin appearing tanned. The Kamiyas stared at their daughter and sister with tear-drenched eyes, relieved, beyond happy smiles on their faces.

"Kari…" Tai sighed, and didn't dare wipe his eyes as tears poured from them by the rain cloud, glad that his sister was safe and sound in the place they trusted most, in the care of someone of the same category. She smiled tenderly at him and their parents, and then looked to the rest of them as well, her gaze halting on T.K.

"_You're doing it, T.K." _

"Doing what? What am I doing?"

"_You're…you're releasing me, T.K. You're saving me."_

"You mean, I'm…" He asked, and pointed to himself subconsciously, his eyes widening. She nodded.

"_You're bringing me back." _


	20. Revelation of the Soul

He stared at her, shocked.

"R-Really?!" She nodded heartily and giggled at his face. He blushed and plucked up his hat from the chair he'd laid it on a while ago, and placed it back on his head again, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. "Is that why the crests are floating and shining like that? Did I find the thing that's precious to us that we have to give away?" She nodded again.

"_Yes. Thank you, T.K. I knew I could count on you." _His blush deepened and he smiled.

"You're welcome. I'm just so glad I was able to save you. We all need you down here, Kari. Especially your family."

"No, I think it's him who needs you the most." Tai laughed as he strode over and locked the boy in a headlock, giving him a nuggie that crumpled his hat.

"_Tai!" _Kari giggled slightly. _"Be careful!" _The fifteen-year-old peered at the boy's crunched hat, and then back up at his sister, grinning sheepishly as a small blush bridged his nose.

"Oh, uh, sorry, T.K." The younger male took off his hat, poked his hand inside until he'd gotten all of the creases undone, and then had it rest on his head again. He nearly (_**That 's **__**supposed to be there.**_) smiled his happiest at the boy, and then chuckled hysterically, the room joining in shortly thereafter, along with the angel above them. When the commotion ceased, Kari stared hard at the crests that were floating side-by-side, shining with all the glory in the world, and then turned back to the others.

"_This might sound strange, but when I say three, close you eyes. Got it?"_ They all nodded, though confused. She watched them for a few seconds more and then began. _"One…two…three!"_ Everyone immediately closed their eyes and twisted from the scene. An outstandingly bright light filled the room once more, and a green and pink glow emitted from both Kari and T.K., shooting straight for the their crests. As the light died down mildly, the group began to watch what was happening, and they were amazed; the glows that had come from the twelve-year-olds had formed a sort of sphere around the crests, which therefore appeared to be joined, fitting together as if they were puzzle pieces.

"What is going on with the T.K.'s and your crests, Kari?" Yolei asked, and she explained while smiling mischeviously.

"_Something…good,"_ She laughed as the girl pouted.

"Ah, come on, silly. I want a _**straight **_answer!"

"_Okay, okay. They're joined together in our spirit ball to be transported to Gennai before bringing me back to you," _Bolts of electricity chased each other inside the ball, and then it simply rose into the air, and Kari moved aside as it swiftly passed her, continuing up until it could be seen no more. _"Now all we have to do is wait for Gennai's signal." _

"Signal? What-" The impulsive girl was interrupted, however, as there was suddenly a shining beam of light that shot down from the sky around Kari, and stopped as it touched her heart. She looked down and saw T.K. staring at it warily, and she smiled at him.

"_It's all right, T.K. This is going to help me return." _His expression softened into one of relief, and then he smiled and nodded as well.

"I understand. What is that beam, though?"

"_It's helping me to recover, so that after I get back, I won't have to stay in the hospital any longer." _

"But how would that be possible? That's against scientific law!" Izzy asked, and then something new broke in.

"Of course it is, Izzy! Haven't you learned by now that everything in the Digital World is against such laws?"

"Gennai?!" He asked, bewildered along with everyone else. They heard him laugh, and he answered,

"Who else could it be? I don't see anybody else harboring a little girl in a top-secret area of the Digital World! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Thank you, Mr. Gennai, for helping my daughter. You'll never know how in debt we'll be to you for this." Mrs. Kamiya stated truthfully, but the man rejected it.

"Oh, please, ma'am, no. I'm happy to help the Digidestined. They saved my home twice already, you know. It was my pleasure to aid them, I assure you," He chuckled the way an old man would, and shimmering rainbows surrounded the background of clouds behind Kari, and she beamed while laughing her heart out. "You see? These lights heal both the body and the soul, thus making it so that, when she wakes up, she will be stable in both areas. Happy in the soul, healthy in the body. It will all work out fine, I promise you." He added the last sentence in after getting some worried stares from Mimi and Sora, but they soon smiled back; they trusted him like he was their second Father, after all, and so let him do his work. The lights faded from around the joyful child, and the attention was quickly shifted to her body on the bed as it began to glow calmly. Her angel form winked at them.

"_Be there in a moment's time, guys, so stay put, okay?" _They laughed happily at her teasing, and stepped back from the bed, for they were uncertain as to what would happen. She flew down to her resting place until she was just above her body's face, and blew breath into herself through her nose. Just then, her real self nearly began to breathe, and the Chosen Children were a bit alarmed when the angel suddenly dispersed into white sparkles, dropping down onto every part of her breathing body until there were no more. There was silence for a minute or so, a silence so deafening it made Clairice nearly begin to sweat in nervousness as they waited for something, anything to happen. After what seemed to be an eternity of suspense, a soft breath came from Kari, and T.K. stepped forward to get a better view of what was happening. His face broke into a million-watt smile as she stopped glowing, and Kari blinked wearily. She turned her head around the room silently, and the minute she saw him, she smiled brightly, and lifted herself into a sitting position with T.K.'s help. He watched her worriedly.

"Are you all right now, Kari?" She didn't answer, but simply smiled at him, and then threw the sheets from her legs and swung them around so they touched the floor. She was still in a white gown, only this was the one she'd worn as an angel, and as she carefully planted her small feet on the cool flooring, it sparkled in the sunlight that drained in through the windows on the wall. She hesitantly stood on her tiptoes after pushing herself up with the help of the handle bars on the sides of her bed, and began to walk around that way; it seemed as if she were testing her strength to some degree. She lowered her feet onto the ground and started hopping from foot to foot, and then she twirled around speedily at the last second, her dress flowing around her to make her look like her angel self again, as she laughed with all the joy in the world. She finally stooped in a sort of ballet stance, bending toward the floor with one leg slanted and out to the side, knee locked as her arm stretched as far down that leg as it could go. When she righted herself again, her eyes instantly landed on T.K., and she ran into his open arms with all the memories of the horrible past few days behind her, and only thought of him. He, in turn, spun her around in the air while they both beamed at the sight of one another, and when he tenderly brought Kari down to the floor again, the unexpected happened…she kissed him. Yeah, that's right; she kissed him, right on the lips too. He stood in shock for a moment, as did everyone else, but then his face crumbled into the biggest smile ever seen on his face. He hugged her again, and both parents and brothers watched on.

'So this is the girl my boy fell for. She sure seems like a sweet girl. Considering she's Matt's best friend's little sister, I'd say there can't be anything wrong with her. Heck, there can't be from the way I hear T.K. talks about her. I think I could get used to having this kid around.' Mr. Ishida thought, and his eldest son was the next to ponder.

'Finally! I didn't think this relationship was going to go anywhere until they graduated from college if they kept up that façade much longer! Good going, Kari. You pick well for a kid, and I have to say the same for you, T.K. Good job, little bro.' Matt smiled as he observed the two.

'My little boy has finally found a girlfriend?! What is a Mother to do at this age?! Oh…the teenage years were so much simpler when I was young…' Ms. Takashi frowned in worry at the adolescents, but her expression lightened when Mrs. Kamiya strode over and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave her a joyful wink.

"Don't worry, Kari will keep him in line!" The two mothers grinned happily, and then turned back to their youngest children. 'I'm so happy she's finally found someone. Although I could already tell a little before, now I get full view, and it's…nice that she's happy. She needs someone after what she's been through, and I know he'll take care of her.' Her husband strolled over to wrap a strong, Fatherly arm around her shoulders, and he gazed at the twelve-year-olds as well.

'I know they're in love, I can feel it, I just…he'd better take care of her. Maybe I'm being a bit protective, but she's my daughter, and…I just lost her. I've lost her once, and I don't want to take the chance of losing her again. Next time, this 'Gennai' might not be around to help… I trust them, though; they'll be fine.' He brined, a newfound pride hidden away deep inside his heart as he stared. Tai leaned against the wall, and beamed at their smiling faces and thought about what was going happening to him on the inside.

'I'm not sure what's wrong with me; they've always been best friends, but I never dreamed she liked him like this…sure, T.K. was in love with her, and I could handle that, but now that she… I don't know what I'm supposed to feel. If it's what she wants, though, and I know it is, then I'll let her. I'll survive, and, plus, it's T.K.; he knows that I trust him, and he's said many times before that he wouldn't trade my trust for the world. You have to love that kid, you know? He wouldn't hurt anybody, and I know that, if he loves her the way he says he does, he won't let me down. So, I guess this is it…this is goodbye to the Kari that I knew…and hello…to the new one. The new one…that's loved.' He was brought out from his thoughts, however, as said two walked over to him, their hands intertwined as they peered at him, eyes shining with glee.

"Don't worry, Tai." T.K. smiled, and the fifteen-year-old smiled back as Kari finished for the boy.

"I will be loved."


	21. Beginning From An Ending

"As you will be." Sora strode over and gently kissed Tai on the lips as well, and he leaned in.

"That goes for you too, Joe." Clairice said quietly, as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek instead, too embarrassed to do the 'lip thing'. Luckily, he was a bit braver, and went to her instead. Yolei sighed.

"Looks like it's 'Girls Attack the Guys Day', huh, Ken?" He didn't answer; he simply blushed as he got an idea.

"Hey, Yolei?"

"Yeah?" She asked as she looked at him, only to find a note in front of her face. She quickly read it and blushed profusely, nodding solemnly as she got to finally see his face. He tenderly kissed her as T.K. had to Kari, and when they pulled away, he said,

"Looks like it not _**quite **_all a girl thing, is it?"

"Nope, and I wouldn't have it any other way!" Everyone else simply stared at all of the happy couples with embarrassed gleams in their eyes.

"I think I'll go tell the doctors that Kari's recovered and doesn't need to stay here anymore," Cody told his parents Grandpa and Mother, who nodded as he walked out into the hall. "Davis is _**not **_going to be happy when he hears about Kari and T.K. _**Why**_ must he have his eyes closed during everything that is really important?!" He asked no one in particular, and soon enough heard Davis's complaining voice screeching from Kari's room.

"_**What**_?! But how could you go out with T.J.?! I thought **we** were meant to be?!"

"For the final time, it's **T-K**! And keep dreaming, Davis."

"Ah, man!" The next thing he heard was a barrage of laughter, and he smiled to himself as he imagined how the leader of the new Digidestined looked right then. He found both Dr. Kayo and Dr. Fransou discussing HDIRD again while sitting in the waiting room, and when they finally noticed him, they immediately assumed that something was wrong; thus, they ran down the hallways until they barged into Kari's room, only to find the girl standing up and looking perfectly healthy compared to the girl they'd dragged in a few days prior. (_**Luckily nobody was kissing when they came in…**_) They were absolutely befuddled, to say the very least.

"Wha…What are you doing out of bed, young lady?! No, scratch that; how in the world are you even _**alive**_?! We'd gotten reports a while ago that you had…passed on, thus becoming the seventh victim to your less-than-know disease! How in the name of my Father's Grandfather clock are you breathing, child?!" Dr. Fransou demanded, and Dr. Kayo stepped in after asking him to take a seat and calm down.

"Well, Kari, what we want to know is…how…weren't you just…dead a small while ago?" She nodded. "All right, then…how are you standing here right now? We have to know, dear." She shifted nervous glances around the room in search of some help, but saw the others doing the same as she.

"I…I…um…" She bit her lip and begged her mind to think up a solution to the predicament in which she'd gotten tangled, as the man stared at her, pressure inside her every cell pulsing with effort.

"Yes, go on." Finally, as she caught Clairice's eye, she got an idea.

"Clairice saved me, sir. She…used every trick she'd learned from you two and brought me back to life all by herself, with no help at all." Both doctors gazed over at the doctor and nurse sitting side-by-side, eyes wide in pure amazement. Clairice shot Joe a glance, but his eyes never left the doctors'.

"Is that true, my boy?"

"Yes, sir, it is. She did it all by herself." The higher men in their field practically ran over to the seventeen-year-old and shook her hand up an down, up and down, until she thought she was going to be sick from all of the bouncing. As they soon began to gush over her, she politely interrupted them and the Digigroup wondered why she would have done such a thing.

"May I…ask a favor?" She asked hesitantly, and was greeted with quick nods from the two.

"I want to be reunited with my parents; I'd like to visit them. Is that all right with you?"

"Well, I…When do you want to leave?" Dr. Fransou asked, and she turned to beam at Joe lovingly.

"Right now."

/ \ / \

The hospital doors burst open to reveal a shining sunshine and a long walkway surrounded by trees, grass, flowers, and beauty that could never be imagined, no matter how strong simplicity reigned. Running down that walkway were the Digidestined, every one of them, and with them came two pairs of couples walking hand-in-hand. One in particular was happy to be outside again…actually, make that two.

"Come on, T.K.! Hurry up!" Kari yelled behind her as she ran at full speed toward a huge, pointy rock a ways ahead, the boy she loved desperately trying to keep up.

"You'd think my worry for you would have made me lose a few pounds, not gain them! I can't believe I'm this slow!" She laughed in amusement.

"You were always that slow!" She called out as she finally reached the rock and began climbing, T.K. resting in its shade, watching her in slight concern as he realized said rock was covered in slippery moss.

"Hey, Kari, I think you might want to- Whoa!" He cried as she suddenly slipped and fell from the rock, screaming in fright as she did so. He quickly lunged forward to catch her, and luckily, fate was on his side as he caught her just in time. She opened her tightly closed eyes and grinned at him sheepishly as he remarked,

"Got'cha!" He carefully set her down after she kissed him on the cheek, and together they walked back to join their brothers, who smiled in perfect bliss. Joe and Clairice had departed just a few seconds before; they had wanted to find Clairice's parents as quickly as they possibly could, and left when they felt promise was 'in the air', as they had said. Now, driving back to a place not seen for years by the young nurse, the near adults were silent. Clairice tried to think of what she'd say to these people she hadn't seen for exactly one thousand and ninety-five days, and imagined what they'd reply, wondering if they'd take her back or not. She looked up as she felt an encouraging hand on her shoulder, and didn't even have to look up to know it was Joe. (_**Duh, they're the only ones in the car! **__It's funny commenting on my own work like this!_)

"Don't be afraid. If they have any hearts at all, I'm sure they'll understand why you left and what your motive was," She lightly hit him in the side for his bad joke, and he grinned sheepishly. "And I'm sure they'll also see that you're sorry for running away and take you into their family again with open arms, just as I would." She beamed at him gratefully, and sighed mockingly.

"I'm beginning to think that feeding you the cafeteria food was a bad idea…" He laughed, and the rest of the drive was silent again until they arrived at a farm house with endless plains, meadows at the back and a large red barn, along with a very small grove of trees so far off it was barely visible to the naked eye from that distance. The medically inclined pair made their way up to the house's door, and Joe had to give Clairice a small push before she actually moved toward it. She crept toward the door, making sure to emit no sound whatsoever, and knocked tentatively three times. It seemed that she was too quiet however, as no one came, though there were clearly people inside. She tried again, and this time, she was surprised to see a gray-haired woman and man step into the doorway. Their eyes widened as they got closer looks at the girl, and the man spoke first.

"C…Cl…Clairice?!" He inquired quietly, nearly speechless as his mouth hung open.

"Hi, Mom...Dad…How are you?"

_**All right, guys, well...This is it! This is officially the ending to my masterpiece! This is the longest story I've EVER written in my entire life!! It ended up being fifty-two pages on MS Word 2000, and finally, after a MANY days' work...it's finished!! I DON'T WANT IT TO END!!!! I had the best time writing this; I don't want to stop!! Ugh...I'll get over it eventually...I hope. Thanks so much to all who reviewed!!! You mean the world, you guys, I mean it!!! Really, I do!! Please review! Thanks to everyone! YOU ALL RULE MY WORLD!!! Oh, and, uh, hi, BengalGrrl:D ;D :) ;) **_


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